


Lupin III: Cult of the Memory Thieves

by the_thief



Category: Lupin III
Genre: No pairing - Freeform, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 27,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28662396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_thief/pseuds/the_thief
Summary: After a thought-to-be successful heist involving the biggest emerald in the world, the gang thinks it's all smooth sailing from here. However, none of them could have anticipated a group of henchmen wielding ruby weapons hunting them down for it. Lupin knows more than he's leading on, and it's causing strain within the group. Are there some memories you must keep to survive, or are some things worth forgetting forever...?
Relationships: n/a
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I'll come clean and say I wrote the first fifteen chapters in 2018 and when I stopped to take a break I never came back to it til now. In advance I'll admit that I'm not even sure if it makes sense, but I can't completely remember what I was planning on having happen so... the last few chapters may seem like they were written by a different person haha. Rest assured it's still me, but I had to figure out what was going to happen based on the first fifteen chapters and work from there. I hope you guys like it anyway and it isn't too hard to read.

The snow had settled in a large blanket over the cold mountain. Each breath the trio blew was visible in the air like smoke from a cigarette, off white and cloud-like. However, the frost in the atmosphere bothered them very little as they sat in a warm outdoor spring attached to a glamorous bath house. It was a vacation Lupin had discreetly planned under the ruse that they wouldn’t be stealing a priceless jewel from the Imperial Treasury in Vienna. Except they were. The loot was a 2860-carat emerald, one of the largest emeralds in the world and obtaining it was no easy cinch, but much like every venture in Lupin’s life, he got his way. At the moment, the emerald was sitting in their room in a disguised safe Lupin had manufactured specifically to hide the treasure while they enjoyed their vacation. With little to worry about, the group sunk their bodies deep into the warm water and relaxed in the fine layer of steam rising from the surface.

“Hey, Lupin,” Jigen began abruptly from the silence.

“Yeah?” Lupin responded, bringing his hands from his face having just washed his face.

“You sure that emerald’s safe?”

“Jigen, babe, don’t worry so much,” Lupin laughed and leaned back, “It makes you sound like an old man.”

“An old man who doesn’t want his shit stolen, sure,” he copied Lupin’s action and rested his head against the wall and looked up at the stars.

They were sitting in a triangle, Lupin sitting opposite to Jigen and Goemon sitting partway between the pair. He was quiet and sitting cross-legged as per usual, sporting a face that suggested he was a little too tense for someone in such a luxurious place. Lupin looked at him and noticed how flushed his face was.

“Goemon, y’know you can leave without us if you want to?”

“Hm?”

“You look miserable,” Lupin laughed and Jigen joined in, “I think there’s money in my pants pocket, go grab yourself something to drink before you pass out.”

Goemon looked hesitantly, right toward Lupin and then left toward Jigen, before standing and exiting, swiftly grabbing his Zantetsuken and B-lining it for the entrance back inside to the change room. He mumbled a vague thanks, presumably for the money, but Lupin wasn’t entirely confident if the promised money was even real. He returned his gaze back to Jigen who was now looking out toward the view of the mountains. Lupin turned to face it as well, stunned by how still it all looked now and how the sheen the snow carried the moon shining down on it.

“Hell of a view, isn’t it?”

“I’d say ‘I would’ve killed for a view like this’ but I guess paying for it works too,” Jigen smiled.

“See? Nothing wrong with treating ourselves sometimes,” Lupin turned back around, resting his arms behind his head.

Jigen turned suddenly at the sound of commotion from inside the building. A thump, either from an object hitting the ground or as if someone had fallen.

“Lupin-”

“Shh.”

They waited quietly for anything further but heard nothing. No struggle, no scream, just the simple sound of something hitting the ground and then silence. The silence hung for a while before footsteps were approaching, the sound of feet pressing into wood, creaking lightly. Lupin could tell whoever it was, they were walking with the intent to not be heard. The door slid open slowly to reveal one of the resort workers, a small woman with her hair tied tight to her head and a pleasant look on her face. Lupin and Jigen watched her blankly.

“Sorry to disturb you!” she said in a very mousy voice.

“Not a problem,” Lupin smiled sweetly, “What can we do ya for?”

Jigen looked at him like he was insane for letting his guard down. Lupin’s serious demeanour seemed to slip away so easily, as if he’d already forgotten the distinct sound and air of something being awry.

“The other gentleman you’re staying with is trying to get back in but we need to see the room key before we can permit him back in,” she looked at him apologetically, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience but if you could-”

“Say no more!” Lupin got out of the water and met the freezing air with little comfort.

“Lupin-!”

He didn’t respond to him, and it was lucky, for he was met abruptly with the weapon the resort worker had hidden up her sleeve. Or at least, he would’ve been struck if not for a skillful dodge on his part, ducking back and grabbing her wrists, turning sharply and tossing her into the pool. Her small knife was still gripped deathly in her hand, a silver blade with a strikingly red handle. The water sloshed at the arrival of her body and Jigen ejected himself from the water before she could retaliate. She cried out, no doubt from her clothing weighing her down into the hot water.

“Jigen, let’s split!”

“Right,” his feet acted before his voice, darting after Lupin.

They acted quickly, grabbing their belongings from the change room, and attempting to get re-dressed. Lupin managed to put on his shoes and do up the button on his jeans before he heard the sound of a frightened crowd down the hall. Shirtless wasn’t the best way to go into a fight, but he had to protect the emerald, preferably before it was in the arms of whoever was after him now. Jigen wasn’t as lucky, only managing to do the buckle on his pants before Lupin was running out again.

“Oi! I ain’t even got shoes on yet-!”

“I think you’ll live,” Lupin joked, “We got bigger things to worry about.”

Jigen dropped the shoes, admitting to himself he was more curious to find out what was going on and whether or not they were in immediate danger. At the end of the hall, where the opening toward the main hall sat there were staff and citizens alike watching in fear of something beyond Lupin and Jigen’s sight. When he rounded the corner, he could see above the heads of the crowd pouring away from the danger a familiar face fighting a figure, with Zantetsuken drawn and fighting the good fight.

“Goemon!?”

Surrounding their battle was destroyed furniture and broken lights, strips of wood that had been peeled off the support beams and overlooking balconies that had been completely cut down. The man Goemon was fighting was what appeared to be a very unconventional samurai, a little bigger than himself but not much older. His sword was genuine and it appeared he knew how to use it well, but his fighting style didn’t match his appearance at all, with large sunglasses and a very trendy looking silk coat embroidered with koi fish, alongside black slim leg pants and thick soled high tops.

“Does this punk really think he can-” Jigen began but was interrupted by the man maneuvering around Goemon’s blows, before grabbing him and throwing their partner to the floor.

It was a scary sight to see Goemon in such a precarious situation, but he was reverent and up no sooner than he’d been put down, back at the fight with all his strength again. Lupin shook his head and pushed his way through the crowd. He’d managed to get to the front with Jigen, a little close for comfort, with the intent to find out what was going on. The stranger brought down his blade once more only to be deflected by the mighty Zantetsuken. Upon closer inspection Lupin could see the man’s sword was much thicker than Goemon’s, and had a red handle adorned with different beads and rubies. It was obvious from the fight however, that the sword wasn’t just decorative.

“Goemon, can you handle this?” Lupin called out to his friend.

“I don’t have much of a choice,” Goemon yelled back, lunging himself forward toward the enemy.

“Then I guess we’ll see you on the other side!” Lupin dragged Jigen along and broke into a run back to the room.

“Hopefully not in Hell,” Jigen scoffed.

They passed by scared couples and onlookers who were just as curious as to what the disturbance was, but not even Lupin could make sense of it yet. He tore the door open of their suite like his life depended on it, and turned the lock of the safe with remarkable speed, and with little surprise he realized-

“It’s gone!” he yelled, kicking the safe and ignoring the sting in his foot, “Goddamnit!”

Their whole room otherwise was untouched and just as clean as it was before they left. Jigen was quick to grab his gun and load it, and Lupin did the same. He was frustrated at the lack of apparent clues. A maid who attempted to kill him and a berserk samurai in the lobby gave him little to make of it. The only commonality was the red handle...

“What’s our next move?” Jigen interrupted his train of thought.

“We gotta go back and help Goemon take down that punk,” Lupin cocked his gun, “Whoever they work for, he’s our best bet for information. You should head back and handle the woman from earlier-”

“Is that your plan?” a female voice came from the door.

Jigen turned with his gun drawn toward the sound, and there before them stood the woman from earlier, soaking wet, her mascara running down her face and hair dishevelled and hanging in long strands in contrast to her tight updo from before. She had a twisted smile on her face.

“And I suppose you’re what’s standing in our way?” Lupin teased, “Not to sound like a brag but you didn’t put up much of a fight earlier.”

Her smile stretched longer, revealing her teeth. Her mouth opened to let out a hideous laugh.

“It didn’t occur to the brilliant Lupin yet,” she pointed her knife at him, “That this is exactly where we wanted you?”

“‘We’?” Lupin repeated but was cut off from a devastatingly loud crash from behind him.

It knocked him and Jigen alike to the floor, rendering them briefly numb as a loud ringing noise resonated in their ears. When he managed to lift himself back up, what hit him first was the cold wind from the opening in the side of the building where their wall used to be, still burning at the edges from the explosive. The second was the blood across his chest from glass and debris, twisting his entire being in pain with each careful breath. The third was the woman stepping over him, gripping him by his hair and squatting over him to speak.

“Not everything seems to go your way, does it?” she laughed.

His pain was briefly replaced with pure hate, and returned once more when his opportunity to respond was taken by Jigen, standing with little ease and holding his gun steadfast toward the woman. He hadn’t been standing as close to the wall as Lupin, and though he was still bloody he knew if he could still breathe, he could still fight.

“Lupin’s not a one act show,” Jigen said, readying his gun, “Now get the hell away from him.”

With one swift motion she brought out her blade and pointed it at Lupin’s throat, and watched Jigen falter slightly. Slowly, she brought Lupin in front of her like a shield and looked toward Jigen for his answer before she’d even asked the question. Between them was the sound of broken pipes in the wall, pouring water in a smooth path toward the floor before it spilled out off the edge.

“Ideally, we’d be taking your entire crew, but if need be - Lupin the Third will do just fine for now,” she spoke confidently this time, playing with the knife lightly against Lupin’s throat, “We’re just taking your colleague here for his brain before we come back for you and your little friend with the sword.”

“His…what?”

“Well, more accurately, his memories. Now, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll drop your weapon. One wrong move and I’ll kill him, then you.”

It was an empty threat, but there was no way for Jigen to know that there was no way this assassin could risk Lupin getting injured any further. Lupin tried to lift his arms but they were stinging and numb, and all he could do was look toward Jigen for help. Under normal circumstances, he was confident no matter where he was being taken he could get out himself. However, with his injuries, he couldn’t guarantee there would even be enough time for him to heal before he was ‘taken care of’.

“J-Jigen…” he mumbled as he was brought to a standing position weakly by the woman, “You have to shoot…”

“I can’t-”

“You have to…!” Lupin flinched in pain from her grip.

He’d never seen Jigen this nervous, and felt pangs of guilt as he further commanded him to shoot the woman even at the risk of his own life. In a split second, his grip around his gun stiffened and Lupin braced as best as he could before the trigger was pulled, clearing all sound for a moment, replacing it was the sound of the exiting bullet which skimmed by Lupin’s cheek and through his ear, into the head of the woman. The shot rendered her limp as she fell, and Lupin in turn fell with her, unable to support himself in the first place and now in complete shock from the torturous pain in the side of his head. He could hear completely nothing from his right ear, and from his left ear heard the distinct sound of Jigen dropping his gun.

He felt Jigen’s hands on his back, trying to lift him in an awkward and desperate way, but it was given up in favour of lifting his head onto his lap. Jigen turned Lupin’s head incredibly slowly to assess the damage and Lupin could feel his hands shaking. He could barely make out cursing and apologies, but nothing discernible. His vision matched his hearing and blurred suddenly, signalling his last few moments of consciousness before he blacked out, relieving him from the pain. At least, for now.


	2. Chapter Two

He awoke in the hideout, which the sight alone brought a large weight off his chest, for at least he knew he made it to safety. Bringing a weak hand in front of his eyes he could see most of the wounds were closed, suggesting he’d been out for quite some time. His mind stung at the reminder alone, but he endured and sat up in his bed, aching almost everywhere on his body. A noise from the doorway made him turn his head. The sound felt like there was water in his ear, but he hadn’t forgotten so quickly about the condition his head was in. Standing in the doorway was Jigen, watching him like a ghost that would fade any second.

“Haven’t seen you in a while huh?” Lupin tried to joke.

Jigen spoke, but Lupin could barely make it out.

“You’re gonna have to come over here,” Lupin replied, tapping his right ear lightly, “I can’t hear a damn thing out of this side.”

He watched as Jigen walked slowly forward, as if dragging weights behind him, til he was standing directly beside the bed. His hands were deep in his pockets now, clearly anxious and not yet ready to repeat himself.

“It’s good to see you aren’t hurt,” Lupin offered, but Jigen didn’t seem to respond well to it.

“It’s my fault I can’t say the same back.”

“What?” Lupin swatted at Jigen’s arm playfully, “I ain’t dead am I?”

“You could have been,” Jigen swallowed hard.

Lupin could feel his own smile drop from his face. There was a sinking feeling in his guts, remembering and reliving the situation all again. Jigen pulled the trigger, but for all intents and purposes, Lupin told him to do it. It wasn’t an easy decision, it wasn’t a smart decision, but in the long run he knew it could have been so much worse. Unlike Jigen, he was seeing things in a glass half-full light. Sure, he wasn’t dead. But to Jigen, if he had died, it would have been blood on his hands.

Jigen noticed something, presumably a sound that Lupin couldn’t hear, from the other side of the door frame. His head was turned toward the movement and Lupin matched his interest in what he was looking at. As it came closer, Lupin felt pride in himself for recognizing the sound of footsteps getting louder. His assumption was confirmed at the sight of Goemon gripping the doorframe, panting slightly from the short burst of running, in his socks no less.

“You excited to see me or wh-?” Lupin started before he noticed the large scar running across Goemon’s face.

It started under his eye and crawled up over his nose to match the other side, ending just next to his left eye. Goemon rushed to the bed and abruptly held Lupin’s hand in his, as if confirming he was solid and not just an apparition. At his touch, he appeared to relax, steadying his breathing.

“Y-Your-” Lupin made it obvious as he stared wide eyed at Goemon’s face.

Goemon brought a gentle hand toward his face, and traced his fingers lightly along the scar.

“Seeing you like this makes it an honourable reminder,” Goemon reassured him.

Lupin didn’t feel reassured. He felt disgusted at himself. He should have known better than to leave Goemon alone. After all the years of knowing him he knew above all Goemon didn’t believe in the concept of retreating. It was an admirable trait but it meant he was willing to get himself hurt to protect his pride as a warrior. He appreciated Goemon was willing to go this far, but he wanted nothing more than for Goemon to be selfish right now. To yell at him, to tell him they should have retreated, that the emerald wasn’t worth going back for… anything. But he was so willing to forgive him like it was nothing.

“You should thank him,” Jigen scratched the back of his head, “He grabbed the knife that… that woman had.”

“Wow, I’m lucky to have you guys, huh?” Lupin replied with half-faux joy, “Where is it?”

“We handed it over to Fujiko to see if there was anything special about it. She actually said she’d be by later to tell us what she’d found out about it.”

“Right…”

He rubbed his temples in response to his growing headache. There wasn’t much he could do while stuck in bed except hear the part of the story he wasn’t consciously there for.

“What happened after I blacked out?”

“It was difficult but I managed to finish off the man that challenged me,” Goemon started the conversation, “His weapon broke amidst our fight so I was unfortunately unable to confiscate it.”

“N-No worries, pal,” Lupin felt his headache somehow stretch to his whole body.

“After that I made my way to our suite and met up with-” Goemon paused awkwardly, “Jigen… and you, technically. After I retrieved the knife we got into the Fiat-”

“And we came back to the hideout,” Jigen interrupted.

Lupin noticed the very obvious tension in the air, the distinct missing piece of the story, but for the sake of avoiding an argument pretended he didn’t. I’ll ask them about it later…

“Well, thanks for the summary I guess,” he said, “But I’m still wondering where those lunatics came from.”

“The man walked in with his sword already drawn, so I didn’t have time to confront him before our battle was engaged. I never really saw the woman at all so I’m not sure what information she gave you.”

“She didn’t give us much either,” Lupin admitted, “She said something about stealing my memories but I can’t really think of any explanation for that that isn’t bullshit.”

“Stealing your memories?”

“Her and that guy were probably apart of some stupid cult but aside from that I don’t have any big theories.”

Fujiko’s familiar knock and pleasant ‘hello’ being shouted into the doorway of the hideout signalled her grand entrance, though Lupin wished he could have heard it a little more clearly. She rounded the corner, wearing a white romper with a black tie around the waist, accompanied by a mauve purse hanging off her shoulder and her hair was in a short orange bob that fit cutely around the shape of her face. Halfway into the room, she’d already pulled out the dagger out of her purse and placed it onto the bed, along with various documents.

“I assume you don’t want to read all these?” she asked Lupin plainly.

“You know me so well,” he laughed.

“I’ll give you a break since you’re all busted up,” she teased, “But long story short, there’s no known history records attached to these kind of weapons, which means whoever made them, made them very recently. There’s some kind of liquid in the handle that travels along the edge of the blade, but my forensics couldn’t identify it. Aside from that there’s only the usual associations with rubies - the primary jewel on the handle.”

“Youthfulness, love, passion,” Lupin recited, “I know about that already.”

“Gee sorry I was useless!” she pouted jokingly.

“You know that’s not what I meant!”

Goemon’s stance stiffened, and his hand was set firmly on Zantetsuken reflexively. Lupin couldn’t help but think he looked like a guard dog, but let the thought slip from his head in favour of the serious nature he was emitting.

“Something wrong?” Jigen asked first.

“I sense an intruder.”

“Where?”

He didn’t respond, only shutting his eyes in focus, unsheathing his blade and leaping toward the ceiling, blade drawn, cutting the support out from beneath the intruder’s feet. Gravity acted quickly, dropping the man toward the bed in a fit of dust and rubble courtesy of the dirty attic, and the person sprawled out beside him was none other than-

“Pops!?” Lupin yelped.

“Lupin-!” Zenigata began, but choked quickly on the thick layer of dust covering his trademark trench coat, “You should really clean up around here once in a while!”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lupin smiled as Jigen tackled the investigator, rolling humorously off the bed, arms and elbows swinging.

It wasn’t long before Zenigata was apprehended and sitting almost-politely on the bed, against his will. Fujiko had taken the opportunity earlier to stand out of the way of their brief fight and reapplied her lipstick, holding a diamond covered compact in one lovely hand. She shut it with a brief click and made it apparent she was ready to leave.

“Going already?” Jigen asked her.

“You boys look busy and I have somewhere to be right now.”

“Really? What are you up to?”

“Drinking champagne by my swimming pool,” she smiled, “But if you find out anything else let me know!”

She stepped out of the bedroom and into the entryway to slip her shoes back on, noticing Goemon had followed her only a few moments after. She tapped the cap of her shoe against the ground to slide her foot to the front more comfortably, and looked expectedly toward the samurai.

“Need something?”

“Um…” Goemon looked embarrassed, “I was just wondering…”

She noticed his awkward habit of touching his face when he was embarrassed, scratching at his cheek, or running his hand through his hair. It was something she’d talked about with Jigen and Lupin before that they all agreed was an obvious give.

“I really didn’t think confessions were your thing, Goemon!” she laughed, pushing his shoulder.

“It’s not that!” he hissed.

“Sorry, sorry,” she waved, “What is it?”

“Who is that?”

“Huh? Who’s who?”

“That man,” Goemon made a vague gesture concerning his height, “You all seem to recognize him but-”

It occured to Fujiko who he was referring to. 

“Are you joking?” Fujiko questioned him seriously.

“Should I know him?” he replied with the same seriousness.

His wrist was grasped firmly by her as he was dragged back into the bedroom. Fujiko was about to speak, but noticed Lupin holding a marker to the inspector’s face, and Jigen holding Zenigata’s head steady, laughing to himself.

“Cut it out!” Zenigata protested.

“Are you writing ‘Lupin was here’ on Pop’s cheek?”

“Aw, I wanted it to be a surprise!” Lupin whined, “Whatever. Jigen’s can be a surprise.” 

“What’s up?” Jigen raised.

“We have a problem.”

“If it’s that big rat again just open the door, it’ll leave on it’s own-”

“Lupin, Goemon doesn’t remember Zenigata.”

Lupin dropped the marker abruptly.

“What do you mean you don’t remember me?” Zenigata asked, just as surprised as the rest of the group, “How could you forget!?”

Lupin stood for the first time from his bed.

“I-I’m sorry if he’s a friend of ours, I didn’t realize-” Goemon defended himself.

“Goemon,” Lupin stopped him, “The cut on your face… that wasn’t caused by debris, right?”

“Hm? No,” Goemon confirmed Lupin’s suspicions, “It’s from the man’s blade.”


	3. Chapter Three

“Lupin…” Jigen mumbled, removing his hands from Zenigata.

“So... it really is possible,” Lupin held his chin in his hand.

“What’s going on?” Fujiko finally asked.

“Those assassins said they were planning on stealing my memories,” Lupin repeated for her, “I thought they were talking out of their ass but… what if that stuff in the blade is some kind of amnesic drug?”

“That seems pretty haphazard for a team of trained assassins. Why wouldn’t they remove important memories?”

“Hey,” Zenigata glared, “I’m important.”

Fujiko pulled her eyelid and stuck her tongue out, which Zenigata did his best to reciprocate, though his hands were tied behind him.

“That’s a good question,” Lupin thought for a moment, “I suppose if you don’t care which memories get removed, then it doesn’t matter either way.”

“I’m not sure I get what you mean,” Goemon admitted, holding his head.

“They need most of our memories intact, which is why that woman didn’t injure me when she had a chance. They weren’t planning on removing any of Goemon’s in the first place but he just happened to be standing in the way.”

“But why? Why do they want our memories?”

Lupin shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s too early to have all the answers,” Lupin winked, “But I do know one thing, Goemon.”

“That is...?”

“We’ve got to restore your memory!”

The group exchanged several confused looks, but nobody protested. After all, they were curious if it was even possible to bring back a lost memory, and this was the perfect opportunity to find out. Lupin walked confidently toward his wardrobe and peeled the doors open to find his usual attire. Pajamas, though comfortable, didn’t give him the same strength his suits did. As he fumbled through the hangers he made a bleak discovery.

“Where are my blue jackets?”

“Your last one is probably still at the bathhouse.”

“Yeah but I had a million of them-”

“You burned one, tore one, lost one on the train, one was frayed because you wore it too much, one was accidentally put in with the wrong laundry, one was cut in half, one was cut in fours, and…” Jigen counted on his finger, “I think that’s it.”

“So they’re all gone!?”

“That’s what I meant when I said that, yeah.”

Lupin groaned loudly like a child and at least dressed himself in the dress shirt and tie along with one of his nicer pairs of pants. He looked at himself in the mirror with short distaste.

“It’s like looking at a puzzle that’s missing one piece…”

“You’re so dramatic,” Fujiko scoffed, “It’s just a jacket.”

An idea hit Lupin suddenly.

“Hey, Fujiko,” he perked up, “You said all you were doing was drinking right?”

“It’s not off the schedule, no.”

“Great!” he grabbed her hands sweetly, “Do you want to do me a favour?”

“No.”

He hung his head sadly before releasing her hands and returning to his closet to reach for something the group had yet to see. After a short moment he brought out a case filled with various wads of cash. He tossed one to Fujiko, who caught it like a pro-league baseball player.

“That’s dirty money!” Zenigata yelled as it passed through the air.

“There’s about, uh,” he scratched his head to remember, “Ten grand? If you go get me a bunch of jackets I don’t care what you do with the rest.”

Her attitude completely changed as she swung her arms around Lupin’s neck, with pure excitement, kissing the wad of bills and waltzing around the room. She slipped it into her purse and blew Lupin several kisses from the door.

“Good jackets. About seven of them. All one colour, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, making it apparent her love was directed at the money more so than the man who handed it to her.

“You better come back!”

“Oh, calm down!” she called from the entryway, “I’ll be back in about two hours, you impatient little-”

The door shut and cut off the end of her insult.

“Aren’t I blessed I can still hear her loud mouth?” Lupin spoke sarcastically.

Lupin placed his hands on his hips, stretching his back slightly before getting to work, and with a short pop signally his spine was back in place, and he was ready.

“It’s time for Operation: Goemon’s Memory Restoration!”

“Great, what’s the first step?” Jigen asked.

“First, we leave Goemon and Zenigata alone to talk.”

“Then…?” Zenigata, Jigen and Goemon asked harmoniously.

Lupin grabbed Jigen by his shoulders and pushed him toward the door.

“I’ll tell you when I think of step two!” he called back to Zenigata and Goemon, who stared dumbfounded back.

“I have no obligation to help criminals!” Zenigata snapped out of it.

“So you would let poor Goemon forget everything you’ve ever done for us? All of your achievements?” Lupin guilt-tripped him, “You’d really be so selfish?”

The inspector appeared to do some brief self-analysis before rolling his eyes.

“Fine,” he begrudgingly agreed, “But when this is done-!”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll arrest me,” Lupin grabbed the doorknob to give them some privacy, “Good luck!”

The door shut and left the pair in equal discomfort. Goemon came down to a sitting position next to Zenigata on the bed, giving himself a moment to think before speaking.

“I feel obligated to introduce myself to you,” Goemon admitted, “But you already know who I am, right?”

“That’s right. I know all about you and Lupin and Jigen and Fujiko. I’m assigned to your gang specifically as a member of the ICPO.”

“So you are an enemy to us? You’re part of the international police force?”

Zenigata had to think for a moment.

“As much as I hate to say it,” Zenigata looked away, “I’ve aided you more than once.”

“Then you’re an ally?”

“No!” he cut back, “I want Lupin arrested more than I want to breathe air in the morning!”

“Then why help us?” Goemon asked innocently enough, “If you are against us?”

This time Zenigata didn’t have an immediate answer. The gears in his head were turning, searching for an answer. Goemon watched him, and noticed the strange suggestion about the inspector that he knew him. However, he couldn’t place the feeling in his heart about not remembering anything about him. It was like smelling something in the air for a moment and not recognizing what the scent is before it’s already gone. His mind travelled through several paths. First the rose path, subtle and admirable, which suggested this man was a friend of theirs. Second, the lavender path, obvious in its aroma, that tells him the man is their enemy. Finally, the sunflower path, looking up in the morning and down at night, symbolizing this man was somehow both.

“Sometimes the circumstances mean I don’t have a choice but to help you guys,” Zenigata tried to explain, “There have been more than enough times where I sabotaged an execution, held back the firing squads, disobeyed orders…”

“Because you want to serve justice your own way?”

“Because I want to end Lupin’s reign,” Zenigata corrected, “Not kill him. Or any of you. It’s something you can’t explain to a higher up.”

From outside the door, in odd gaps of silence between them, they could hear Jigen and Lupin with the television on, and brief snippets of a conversation outside of them.

“I believe the justice system works. I know my men and I do good work,” he continued, “But what some consider injustice, the government considers profitable. That’s where I draw the line.”

Something changed inside Goemon at the inspector’s words. The tension in the air was replaced with a warm, welcoming feeling Goemon hadn’t felt for a long time. An admiration he felt very strongly toward the thought-to-be stranger.

“You said your name was Zenigata?”

“Koichi Zenigata,” he straightened, “Inspector Koichi Zenigata.”

“Inspector, I believe I can see where you fit in my memories.”

“You remember me!?”

“Not your image,” Goemon expressed, “But your passion.”

Now it was Zenigata’s turn to try and understand.

“I’m sorry we are on opposite sides of the law, but I believe in another life we could have fought the same enemy.”

“Goemon…” Zenigata mumbled, watching him stand and walk toward the door.

The room encompassed a feeling of equal footing for just those few moments. That scenario was in another life, sure, but in this life there was no business between them. Goemon could see gaps in his memory, where a man stood. He was there at every narrow escape and briefly successful captures, and though he couldn’t remember the words that passed between them, he knew as he walked away he was not turning his back on an enemy.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so bad I don't know what I was thinking fjdkhgkjfdg

Jigen and Lupin sat in the living room on the tattered paisley couch, blaring a rerun of I Love Lucy from the television. To say they were watching it would be a lie, considering that Jigen was busy looking at the wall, or at the very least anywhere except toward Lupin, and Lupin was preoccupied watching him. He could still see the impression of discomfort surrounding Jigen, with the way every conversation they’d start would eventually trail off into silence. There was something Jigen wasn’t telling him. Something he couldn’t bear alone. But Lupin wasn’t so oblivious to not realize Goemon wasn’t out of the loop. He saw it in the way Jigen interrupted his re-telling of what happened after he clocked out of consciousness.

It only occured to Lupin after looking at Jigen as a whole that he wasn’t wearing his usual gear. In place of a suit and tie, he was wearing a striped t-shirt and jeans. He didn’t look bad, but outside of pajamas and the suits, he usually only saw these kind of looks when they’d wear disguises during a stakeout. In fact…

“Isn’t that the shirt you wear for your fisherman disguise?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

Lupin waited a few seconds for some kind of response but was met with the same cold attitude.

“How long was I out for that suits went out of style?” Lupin joked.

“Three weeks.”

“Three weeks!?”

“Three weeks,” Jigen repeated.

He was trying to remember if he’d ever been out cold longer than that. If he had, he wouldn’t be surprised, but he was pretty sure three weeks was a new and unpleasant record. Recognizing his own visible panic, he created a facade that it was no big deal, if not at least to ease the burden he’d placed on Jigen. He was already running out of ideas for how to keep the conversation moving, when a lightbulb illuminated in his head.

“Hey, what about a smoke to celebrate all of us coming out in one piece?” Lupin suggested trying to stay positive, “I must have a pack sitting around here somewh-”

“No, thanks.”

“You don’t wanna smoke?” Lupin questioned, “I’m not gonna make you pay me back for them, you know that right?”

“I’m just not in the mood, alright?” he scratched his shoulder and continued his vague looks outward and away.

At that moment, Goemon stepped out of the bedroom composed as per usual. Lupin jumped from the couch eagerly to hear what progress has been made.

“How’d it go? Do I have to make step two?” Lupin laughed.

“No, I think I understand what his purpose to us is.”

“‘Purpose’?”

“Nevermind,” Goemon buckled at his own poetic attempts, “I meant to say that I remember enough about him. Maybe not his words or his face but I remember his presence.”

“Hm,” Lupin cocked his head, “I’m not really sure I get it but you seem pretty sure of yourself.”

He analyzed the situation briefly, and looked back toward Jigen.

“Jigen, get changed. We gotta dump Zenigata somewhere.”

“Hey!” Zenigata yelled through the closed door, surprising Goemon slightly, “Stop talking about me like I’m not here!”

“I’m talking about you because you’re here!” Lupin retaliated, kicking the door.

“He knows where the hideout is though,” Jigen pointed out, “If we drop him off somewhere he’ll just come back later.”

“Shit, right,” Lupin bumped his forehead with his fist, “I guess it’s moving day, boys.”

This procedure wasn’t abnormal. Lupin tended to hop from place to place at the first signal that they’d been compromised and they had managed to finesse their craft, packing the whole hideout in about an hour, taking with them the basic essentials. The team broke to respectively pack their bags, and Lupin had the pleasure of Zenigata berating him relentlessly.

“No matter where you run, I swear-”

“Can you not see the bandages around my ear?”

“You think I care if I’m giving you a headache?” Zenigata continued, watching Lupin close another suitcase.

“No,” Lupin replied sarcastically, “I mean I’m gonna take ‘em off and gag you with em. So pipe down if you know what’s good for you.”

He was lucky this time, because they’d only been at this hideout a few months and had yet to accumulate enough junk to render packing very difficult. He looked over his mass of belongings and scratched at his jaw.

“I think this is everything,” he said looking around the room, “Probably just get my stuff out of the bathroom and then we can blow this popsicle stand.”

“Are you talking to me?” Zenigata asked.

“Sure, why not?”

He stepped out of the room and down the hallway, into the bathroom. The mirror above the sink enlightened him to the fact he had more stubble growing across his chin than he absolutely wanted, and he looked at his watch for reassurance. Knowing he had some time still until Fujiko returned, he took the shaving cream from the side of the sink and lathered it across his face. However, when he opened the medicine cabinet, he noticed there wasn’t a razor in sight.

“There’s no way Jigen used an entire pack in three weeks…” Lupin grumbled at his lack of luck, “And Goemon couldn’t grow a beard if he tried…”

Maybe he already packed them?

As he was about to close the cupboard, he noticed a new bottle. Typically, the only pills kept in the cupboard were standard painkillers, but as he twirled the bottle in his hand he recognized what it was.

Xanax?

Despite his confusion, he caught sight once more of his face, still covered in shaving cream and remembered what he was doing. He quickly wiped the substance off his face wastefully and made his way across the living room to ask Jigen about the razors. As he walked he realized how small this hideout really was, and was almost glad to be leaving. Granted, it wasn’t the worst place to live but he had to admit to himself he liked living in luxury. He had mostly picked this place because of its location. It was a small, peaceful town right next to a river and their front door faced the waterfront. Part of him was curious as to how Zenigata even managed to find them, but figured he wouldn’t bother telling him even if he asked. Reaching the other end of the hideout took barely thirty seconds and he was standing in Jigen’s doorway, watching him pack his clothes and a few different books. He didn’t own much beside his gun, so it wasn’t surprising he had significantly less than Lupin to pack.

“Yo,” Lupin greeted, “Can I bug you for a razor?”

He noticed he was changed into his suit finally, with the exception of his tie. It was an odd detail to notice, but Lupin liked to think he was observant. Jigen’s back straightened after he placed the handful of books off his bed into the suitcase. 

“We don’t have any.”

“Huh!? You used all of them!?”

“Yeah, sorry,” he replied apathetically.

“Were you shaving your legs or what?” Lupin joked.

“Sure.”

Jigen walked around the bed to grab more of his stuff, but Lupin wasn’t focusing on what. He was busy shutting the door, and at the sound of the door clicking shut, Jigen turned abruptly.

“You’re really beat up about the razors, huh?” Jigen tried to lighten up, defensively.

Lupin couldn’t let it sit any longer. It appeared as if when other people were around Jigen was fine, but when it came to being alone together he became cold. This wasn’t the Jigen he knew, and was used to. Usually they were comfortable together, maybe too comfortable while they were drunk, but that’s the way they liked it. Hell, Lupin would prefer too comfortable over this any day. He knew something was wrong, but didn’t realize until now how bad it was.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Lupin demanded.

“There’s nothing to tell,” Jigen shrugged, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“If you won’t tell me, I’ll get Goemon to tell me.”

“Tell you what!?” Jigen snapped suddenly.

“I don’t know!” Lupin cut back, frustrated at the lack of answers, “Did something happen during those three weeks? My hearing might be damaged but I’m not blind, you know? I can tell when you guys are off.”

Jigen was facing him, but his eyes were looking a thousand miles away. His mouth opened and closed, as if tossing between the truth and another excuse. Yet, nothing came out. The sound of the front door opening alerted the both of them that their time was up, as Fujiko made her presence very known.

“Lupin?” he heard her call in confusion, “Where are you guys?”

Lupin couldn’t hide his disappointment, and only looked at Jigen apologetically.

“We’re in here!” Lupin called back, turning to open the door and greet her.

Not soon after he stepped out of the room his eyes were covered by Fujiko’s soft hand.

“Keep your eyes closed!” she insisted.

“Sure thing,” he smiled.

She pushed him back into Jigen’s room, and looked for the closest mirror, which was to the left of the door above the vanity. There was a weak sound of a bag rustling (that Lupin could guess was louder than what he was giving it credit for) which was presumably Fujiko retrieving the jacket from the bag. Holding up the jacket, she guided his arms in until it sat comfortably on his body.

“Fits nice,” he remarked.

“Now open your eyes!” she said, as if unveiling him to himself.

He did just that, and was greeted with a prominent yellow jacket made out of a soft material, which suited him nicely.

“I knew I could count on you,” Lupin thanked her, posing in the mirror, “What a colour!”

“Right? Oh, and I told them to send the rest of them to the usual spot when they’re ready,” she spoke, noticing the suitcases, “You guys moving again?”

“Yeah, we’re actually going to leave soon to drop Zenigata off,” he explained, “Wanna come?”

“Hm, do I want to sit in the world’s smallest car with four other people?” she thought out loud.

“Ha ha, very funny. You can just say ‘no’.”

Out of all of them, Goemon had the least to pack. His lifestyle had made him less materialistic than most. The summary of his belongings included his clothes, his tools for cleaning Zantetsuken, bandage rolls, and a handful of kitchen tools, plus a small collection of coins in various currencies. With his entrance, it meant the group was ready to leave for the next hideout, with the inspector in tow. As Lupin loaded the car, and Jigen and Goemon worked to push Zenigata into the backseat with any sort of grace, he took one last look at the view of the lake and breathed in the fresh air. He knew he’d miss the fresh sight of the small town, and took in the view til it was the last thing in sight of the rearview mirror. With Fujiko waving them farewell for now, it was time for a new hideout, a new jacket, a new city, and a new adventure.


	5. Chapter Five

The radio of the Fiat was luckily functioning that day and blasting a song that had dropped the day before. As much as Lupin wanted to stay upset, he gave in to the tune of the song and started humming along after getting the hang of it. He liked to feel happy, which isn’t an unusual feeling, but found the smallest things made him smile. Nice songs, a cool breeze, a comfortable coat, he saw a lot to like about the world. It was easy to get distracted, but he tried his best to keep focus. After a certain amount of driving that was not made easy by Zenigata’s tantrums, Lupin pulled over on the side of a dirt road, next to a large field of sunflowers.

“This looks like a good spot,” Lupin announced, pushing the driver’s side door open.

Jigen followed suit as well as Goemon for getting Zenigata out of the car. He went out kicking and yelling, but he was out nonetheless.

“You’re just going to leave me in the middle of nowhere!?”

“Not ‘nowhere’,” Lupin pointed out, “There’s a farmhouse waaaay over there, you see it?”

Zenigata squinted very hard toward the horizon.

“No?”

“Well, whatever,” Lupin shrugged, “You’ll find it eventually. See ya later!”

“Huh!?” Zenigata scrambled to his feet, “I’m not just going to let you-”

Zantetsuken was released swiftly from its sheath and pointed strongly toward the inspector. Lupin pulled a peace sign and Jigen vaguely nodded his head goodbye, and the pair returned to their seats in the Fiat. Zenigata looked toward Goemon with a certain level of betrayal.

“Whatever happened to fighting the same battle?” Zenigata mumbled as Goemon backed away toward the car.

“That was in another life,” Goemon responded.

With one last look he darted back in the vehicle, engine already revving, and left the inspector standing in the dust. He looked out of the window and across the field of sunflowers, smiling to himself. Usually car rides with Lupin at the wheel weren’t known for their calming moments, but Austria held many breathtaking sights, which Goemon found distracted him from Lupin’s awful driving.

“Where are we headed?” Jigen finally spoke.

“Vienna.”

“Vienna?” he repeated, “We’re wanted in Vienna.”

“Where aren’t we wanted?” Lupin joked.

Goemon continued to watch the horizon change in new and pleasant ways for a while before his train of thought changed abruptly at the conversation in the front seat. The radio interrupted the song with a man delivering the news, and as Lupin reached his hand out to change the station, he found himself turning the dial at the sound of something familiar.

“The emerald stolen from the Treasury of Vienna, stolen by Lupin the Third almost a month prior, has just been returned today-”

“Returned!?” the gang exclaimed.

“It is unclear whether it was returned by Lupin the Third or a good Samaritan, but the director has ensured that security has been increased to protect the emerald from any further attacks-”

“Bullshit! Those assassins took the thing from us just to bring it back!?” Lupin punched the steering wheel in anger, “Something doesn’t add up- Jigen, are you alright?”

Goemon could see Jigen using one arm to clutch his chest and the other to hold his face in apparent pain. Goemon realized something, unbeknownst to Lupin and suddenly became grave. His mouth was opened, pushing out every bit of air in his lungs yet nothing coherent could be formed despite his lips moving, trying desperately to form words. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to speak, but rather he couldn’t no matter how he tried.

“We have to go back,” Goemon demanded of Lupin, pushing his way between the two front seats to confront Jigen, “I forgot something very important.”

“What’s going on!?” Lupin countered, pulling the car over once more.

“I was foolish,” Goemon cursed to himself, “I didn’t think to pack anything from the bathroom-”

“The bathroom…” Lupin repeated, digging through his pants pocket.

“Lupin, please just turn around-”

Goemon stared wide eyed at the pill bottle Lupin pulled from his pocket. He grabbed it abruptly and popped open the cap. Lupin watched in strange tension, upset and worried and confused all at once. Goemon pulled a water bottle from the cupholder and handed Jigen the items, which he quickly received before exiting the car in a state of exasperated breathing. He tore the door open roughly and dropped the water bottle to the ground, leaning against the frame of the Fiat for leverage.

Lupin didn’t say a word. The last thing any of them needed now was anger, but God did Lupin want to be angry. He could see a look across Goemon’s face that he placed somewhere between disappointment and anger, directly wholly toward himself. The level of self degradation exuding from him was obvious and almost painful to watch, and with due time Jigen slumped back into the car.

“I’ll tell you everything when we get back,” Goemon turned to Lupin.

“Like hell you will,” Jigen snapped at him, albeit weakly.

“He deserves to know-”

“You guys don’t owe me anything,” Lupin stated firmly, “He’ll tell me when the time is right or he won’t tell me.”

After putting them in harm’s way, it was impossible now for him to demand answers anymore. Inside he was kicking himself for being so forward with Jigen in the first place, not knowing this went beyond his grasp, and bordered into being invasive. He didn’t want to believe Jigen was hiding an addiction from him or something not quite as severe, and the only way he could think of not to believe it was to never know.

Jigen didn’t respond to him, and Goemon reacted in a similar way, attempting some sort of speech and retrieving his voice back before he could say anything at all. He moved slowly into the back seat and returned to his position, staring out the window. Lupin reached across to close Jigen’s door and brought the Fiat back to the road. It was a bad start to a new beginning, but he supposed there were worse ways for things to turn.

He rolled the window down to at least let the sound of the wind distract him slightly from the awkward air in the car. The radio had conveniently stopped working in the midst of the incident, but music wouldn’t have helped either way in this scenario. They began pushing closer to the city as time passed in their drive, exchanging the fields of flowers for small residential areas, and as ditches turned to sidewalks and dirt rounds into paved lanes of traffic, they were reintroduced to the beautiful city of Vienna, to their new home.


	6. Chapter Six

It wasn’t long, maybe a few weeks, before they were resettled into a more glamorous complex, tucked away amongst the rows of similar looking houses. Not only were they skilled at packing quickly, but unpacking had also become second nature to them. It was also helpful that Lupin had pre-furnished all the hideouts, though it often resulted in some hideouts looking and feeling slightly more expensive than the last, but living in luxury wasn’t necessarily discreet. Lupin and Goemon were in the process of cleaning up in preparation for Fujiko’s arrival, as she had called that morning announcing she wanted to see the new place for the first time. Jigen’s “cleaning” meant he shut the door of his bedroom and did his best to stay out of the way of the others. Goemon was of course more thorough with his cleaning, whereas Lupin was typically ordered around by the samurai knowing full and well that he wasn’t going to do everything alone.

“Why does it matter what the place looks like when she’s only going to be stepping foot in here for about a minute?” Jigen asked without hearing the answer.

“The least we can do is not invite her into a pig sty,” Lupin replied, carrying folded laundry in a large white basket and placing in on the coffee table in front of Jigen, “Could you at least sort these for me?”

Jigen looked him up and down for a moment before shooing him off, agreeing to the question but too lazy to open his mouth. However, Jigen was right in what he said. Fujiko had less interest in their house and more interest in Vienna, and made it obvious the second she got settled in. After a very brief walk-about the rooms, followed closely by Lupin like an obedient dog, she made some vague comment about it being “nice” before sitting down in one of the large sofa chairs.

“So what are we up to today?” she asked, crossing one leg over the other.

Lupin stuttered suddenly noticing what was adorning Fujiko’s feet. She was wearing a pair of velvet heels, in a beautiful blue colour, but what floored Lupin was the large block of sapphire in the place of the heel surrounded by layers of gold and small diamonds. The corner of Fujiko’s lips twisted into a smile, and she pointed one leg toward Lupin, allowing him to get a closer look.

“Aren’t they nice?” she teased.

“Where the hell did you get those?” Jigen asked as Lupin slipped one off her foot and examined it, rolling it over in his hand.

The light twirled inside the sapphire, making its authentic identity known - the richest blue he’d ever seen and on just the person he’d anticipated them to be on. Lupin crouched down to return it to Fujiko’s nyloned foot, listening patiently for her answer to Jigen.

“Don’t you remember that auction Lupin was going on about? Just a few weeks ago I think.”

Jigen didn’t have the faintest clue what she was referring to but Lupin did indeed remember.

“Number 458, right?” he said, bringing himself to a stand, “I’d heard the good word that it was something special… I didn’t think it’d be anything like this.”

“Oh, Lupin, I saw them and I couldn’t stand the thought of someone else having them,” she explained, looking at the shoes in soft fondness, “Plus, you picked them out and all…”  
In a way, he sort of had picked them out for her. He’d heard number 458 at the auction was a special item indeed - these sapphire block heels - and it was by no coincidence that he’d told Fujiko about the auction… though she didn’t seem privy as to why that was.

“You’re lucky they’re still on your feet at all,” Jigen spoke from the couch, “I imagine there’s more than enough people in this city who’d love ‘em even more than you.”

“Well if they want them that badly they’re going to have to get through a Magnum, a Walther, a Browning and Zantetsuken,” she remarked, “So they can go right ahead and try.”

Jigen smiled at her attitude and pushed his hat back down, and stood from his seat.

“Well, you heard the lady,” Jigen stretched himself tall, “Where are we off to?”

“Uh,” Lupin scratched his chin, “Goemon, what do you want to do?”

Goemon was sitting in the window sill and caught slightly off guard by the responsibility being pushed on him. He looked back out the window, as if the idea he was looking for was floating somewhere around the sun.

“Prater,” Goemon decided.

“The amusement park?” Lupin clarified, “Didn’t you go there with your girlfriend last year?”

“...She wants me to take pictures,” he said, pulling a small disposable camera out of his sleeve.

“Sounds good to me,” Jigen and Fujiko said, almost simultaneously, though both trailed off toward the end realizing their own synchronization.

“Then to the amusement park!” Lupin declared, pulling his jacket off the back of the couch, where he had placed it earlier as he cleaned, and swung it over his shoulder as he walked toward the door.

They stepped out onto the sidewalk and Lupin noticed the wonderful breeze through the air, taking in a deep breath of what was to be a familiar scent. He looked toward Fujiko before continuing forward.

“Are you alright to walk there in your heels?”

“They were five grande,” Fujiko flipped her hair, “If need be I could run a marathon in these.”

“I take it they’re comfortable then?”

“Very.”

The group walked together, relaxing at what would appear to be a comfortable day off for all of them. Even Goemon appeared to be… excited? At the very least he was utilizing the camera to take pictures of houses, cars, stray cats, and Lupin wherever he offered to pose.

“Y’think Murasaki is gonna like this one?” Lupin asked, standing like Wonder Woman in a very ornate doorway they likely weren’t allowed to be taking pictures of.

“She likes everything,” Jigen waved his hand.

“Goemon, why don’t you let Jigen take a picture of us?”

Goemon was hesitant to hand the camera over to Jigen, but couldn’t resist the offer, stepping into the doorway next to Lupin. Jigen held the camera up to his eyes and waited for it to focus on his two smiling friends… well, what Goemon considered a smile anyway. Fujiko, in contrast, was sitting nearby on a bench rubbing her feet, admitting to herself that the heels, though beautiful, weren’t practical. She’d worn worse however, and simply took the opportunity while they were stopped to rest. No sooner had she put the shoes down on the bench next to her an older gentleman appeared, asking her for directions.

“Entschuldigung, wo ist…?”

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Fujiko tried to apologize, “I don’t speak German-”

“Oi!” Lupin called out suddenly, and much to Fujiko’s shock, there was a young man behind her, with her sapphire heels already in hand, darting down the sidewalk. The older man made a break for it as well, and she realized all at once she’d been played.

“Lupin!” she yelled for him to do something, and he did, launching himself from the stairs and after the thief. Jigen moved to run after him, but Lupin startled his decision.

“Jigen, stay with Fujiko! Goemon, come with me!”

“Huh!?” Jigen yelled back, still holding the camera, trying not to throw it to the ground.

The pair disappeared around the corner along with the thief, and Jigen made a soft tch before sitting on the bench. Fujiko, as agitated as she was, sat down next to him. Her arms were crossed and she was visibly furious.

“So much for the Magnum and Browning, huh?”

“Oh, screw off,” she snapped.

“Hey, you saw me start running,” Jigen pointed out, “But apparently I’m not allowed to go, am I?”

Fujiko’s arm settled slightly, and she slipped her hand into her purse. Jigen wasn’t paying much attention, simply soaked in adrenaline and nothing to do with it. It wasn’t until he noticed Fujiko poking a cigarette box into his face that she was trying to get his attention.

“Sure, thanks,” he said, taking one.

“Might as well do something,” Fujiko mumbled, “Lupin doesn’t let me smoke around him and I haven’t seen one cigarette in your mouth all day.”

“Yeah, I’ve been off the things for a while,” he admitted.

“Oh, sorry, did I ruin your clean streak?”

He actually found himself smirking slightly at that, and leaned in to let her light the end of his cigarette. After a few pulls he could feel an old feeling of calm fall over him.

“You aren’t nervous Lupin isn’t going to get them heels back?”

“If I asked Lupin to go lay on the sun he’d be there in ten minutes flat.”

“So no?”

“I’m just saying I’m not giving him the choice to get them back for me or not,” she reiterated, “And you know what Lupin is like - if he wants it bad enough he’ll get it.”

“Not giving him a choice, huh…”

“Something wrong?” she asked, noticing a change in his demeanor.

He looked out toward the direction Lupin and Goemon ran off to, to see if they had returned yet, but was met with an empty sidewalk. He took a second to figure out what he was going to say, the best way to say it and frankly, the only way to say it. Fujiko wasn’t around as often, so she was the only person he could talk to.

“I don’t think Lupin trusts me anymore,” he admitted.

“Did I hear that right?”

“Well, you saw it, right? He completely left me behind. I mean, why the hell do I gotta’ sit here and keep an eye on you? You’re a grown woman, you don’t have to be babysat, for God’s sake.”

“He just overreacts. Maybe he thought the thieves might come back for me?”

“I doubt it,” he took another drag off his cigarette, “Goemon, neither. I gotta’ hide in the bathroom if I want to smoke, I can’t drink around him, I can’t shave by myself… Hell, he took away my gun for about a week after what happened to Lupin-”

“Come on, you know you can get pretty riled up when Lupin’s in danger,” Fujiko tapped the ash off, “I don’t really blame him on that one.”

“I’m not allowed to wear a tie anymore, Fujiko,” he complained, “It’s like I’m a dog they just tell me what to do and I have to do it.”

“Why can’t you wear a tie?”

“Goemon thinks it makes it hard for me to breathe when I ‘act up’ or something,” he explained.

“And what does Lupin think of all this?”

“He won’t… he hasn’t…” Fujiko watched him stumble through the sentence, “He doesn’t even ask anymore! It’s like he doesn’t even care what happened…”

“Does it matter if you weren’t going to tell him anyway?”

“Is this a game show or something, what’s with all the questions?”

“Defensive,” she poked a sharp finger into his side.

Almost on cue, Lupin came back around the corner with Goemon, hands deep in his pocket. It was without a doubt that they didn’t have the shoes with them. Fujiko stood up at the sight, but Jigen stopped her, crushing out his cigarette quickly before Goemon could see. She turned to swat his arm away, but came to realize why he was stopping her. He kicked his shoes off his feet and knocked them toward her.

“Jigen…?”

“You shouldn’t have to walk back barefoot.”

She didn’t express her thanks out loud, but slipped them onto her feet and tied them to the best of her ability. They were of course a little big on her, but they still beat walking barefoot. With that she swung her purse off her shoulder, getting ready to bat Lupin with it. Lupin could see it coming, and hid behind Goemon defensively.

“Hey, it’s all good I swear-”

“Hold still!”

“Fujiko, he knows where the shoes are,” Goemon decided to tell her before her purse could come crashing down.

“He does?” she stopped her barrage to look at Lupin, “You do?”

“I managed to get a tracker on one of the heels before they escaped,” he showed her his watch, which was reflecting a small GPS tracker with a glowing red dot.

“Oh, I knew you could do it!” she changed her tone, swinging her arms around him.

As much as Lupin wanted to enjoy the contact, her shrill excitement stung his aching ear, and he knew there was little time to waste. It was time to find the Fiat and get on the trail to finding Fujiko’s heels. Some may have argued that there were more important things to worry about then some lousy pair of shoes, but Lupin could tell there was something going on. As soon as he laid eyes on the sapphire, he knew that there was trouble coming, but he was ready for it now. However, there was one thing he was still wondering about first.

“Are you wearing Jigen’s shoes?”


	7. Chapter Seven

Lupin had his suspicions as to where the red dot on the GPS was leading them. He knew it wouldn’t lead them to any old hole in the wall, but chose not to quiet his teams’ surprise when they passed by the building in all its grandeur.

“That’s…” Fujiko began.

“That’s the treasury…” Jigen finished.

Lupin watched the building with a critical eye as they drove and decided it was time for a last minute investigation.

“We need to get in there.”

“You have a plan to get the heels back already?” Fujiko asked.

“Maybe,” he teased, “But before we get the heels, I need to check up on the emerald.”

The gang was confused as to what his intentions were, but remained in agreement that Lupin had his reasons.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Call me crazy,” Lupin finally tore his eyes off the building, “But why don’t we just walk in the front door?”

Luckily, the Fiat had its own pile of disguises at their disposal, and they wasted no time transforming themselves while Lupin explained the plan. Lupin decided to go for a more tourist-y look, sticking with a blonde wig, large sunglasses, and an Aloha shirt. Jigen used a cap over his beard, removed his hat and placed a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose, but matched Lupin in a different patterned shirt. Goemon was the last to get ready, as he held up his gi to allow Fujiko to change with some sort of privacy into a tank top and shorts as well as a long blonde wig. Once she was finished, Goemon tied his hair back and very begrudgingly put on a pair of jeans and generic graphic-tee, finishing off his disguise with a sweater tied around his waist.

Walking in like tourists made no big deal of their appearance, and Goemon took the opportunity to act like one too. At every other display he took another picture to send to Murasaki, and as Jigen followed nearby he noticed the loot surrounding him was… more valuable than what Lupin had taken. The most popular display was a very important looking crowns and sceptres, among various jewels and regalia belonging to prominent historical figures. He caught himself deep in thought, watching Goemon take a photo of an imperial sword.

The emerald is hardly the star here… Why didn’t he target the crowns? 

“Ah, come get a picture of this one!” Lupin called indiscreetly toward Goemon, pointing toward the emerald he and Fujiko were hovering toward.

Goemon and Jigen tried to move casually toward the display to not draw attention to themselves, and as soon as they were close enough got down to business. The camera snapped a few photos casually, and Jigen leaned toward Lupin’s face to listen closer to what Lupin was trying to tell him.

“It’s a fake.”

“Is it that obvious?” Jigen whispered back.

“Painfully. The real one is opens at the top like a chest. This one is fused shut.”

“What do they gain from returning a fake emerald?”

“The better question is, why did the director let it go on display?”

“Huh?”

A tour group passing by interrupted them, and they waved politely, moving out of their path apologetically. It didn’t matter really, Lupin was sure the emerald wasn’t real, and it was time to move forward with the plan. He looked toward his watch, and the GPS indicated the stolen heels were either immediately above or below them. Nudging Goemon, he leaned in to ask him if he could make sense of it. The samurai in response pretended to casual stretch, lifting his elbows behind his head, and tapping the floor nonchalantly with his foot.

“It’s hollow beneath us,” he mumbled.

“You’re sure?”

He nodded.

“Then let’s go,” Lupin reached into his pocket and brought out a smoke pellet. Goemon only needed a few moments to slip Zantetsuken out from the back of his shirt, and accurately cut a circle into the floor around the gang. As soon as the smoke covered their actions, he did exactly that, and the four of them sunk into the hole, ready to land on the floor below with the added help from a wire suspension cord Lupin had been quick to attach to the ceiling. If his theory was right, then Fujiko’s heels and the real treasure he’d been after were just below their feet…

The samurai cut the circle of floor below them into pieces to ensure the heels weren’t destroyed by the rubble, but at their landing they’d arrived in an empty room. After only a few steps, Lupin spotted the tracker by his foot, cursing loudly.

“Shit! We’ve been tricked-”

Several men with swords, all with ruby red handles, barged into the room suddenly surrounding them. Goemon unsheathed Zantetsuken, but Lupin grabbed his shoulder in warning.

“Don’t try anything,” he hissed, spotting the scar across Goemon’s nose as an all too miserable reminder of letting him get carried away last time.

A pair stepped from the crowd of swordsmen and women, the two men who had stolen the sapphire heels earlier. There was an instruction called for the gang to drop their weapons, which all of them but Goemon did. Lupin watched him precariously, trying to send some kind of mental signal that they were outnumbered, that there was no chance to fight here. As much as he hated to admit it, at the moment, they had no chance. With every inch of hesitance in his body he sheathed Zantetsuken and placed the blade on the ground much like a wounded animal. He returned to a stand, with his hands in the air.

“Did you think you could trick us twice?”

“‘Twice’?” Lupin clarified.

“We learned the first time what you and your team are capable of, and we aren’t as naive now.”

“What are you talking about?”

Before they could respond, a tall, elderly man with a curved spine and long strands of white hair pushed past them. Lupin immediately recognized the man as the director of the treasury, and scowled to show his distaste. The director waved an ebony cane he had in his right hand toward the goons behind the group and within seconds they were apprehended.

“I’ll be the one to explain that,” the old man spoke, turning and walking away.

They were pushed to follow him down an industrial looking hallway, and they all listened closely to the man as he began his spiel.

“Here I was, sending my men out after you and you go and show up right on my doorstep,” he started, “I must be incredibly lucky today.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well how about I start from the beginning?” he smiled, “I’ll admit I didn’t anticipate you would be able to steal the emerald from me, for that I was foolish, but you inspired me that day, you know that?”

Lupin didn’t respond, but looked toward his friends who didn’t seem as eager to look around. It was actually sort of frightening, really, to see the fear in their eyes while being at the hands of the ruby blades. One wrong step and they would-

“What would you say, Lupin, if I were to tell you that every man and woman around you here, you have met before?” the director posed the odd question.

“Not a familiar face in the crowd, doc.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he chuckled, “You wouldn’t recognize their face, but rather, their mind.”

“Huh?”

“I know the subordinate who met you at the bathhouse hinted at our purpose in capturing you,” he continued, “This is an organization I have built with the sole purpose of collecting the memories of valuable people. I’ll admit it’s still a work in progress, but with you and your gang in the mix I think it could be spectacular.”

“How do you know about what the woman said to me? You weren’t there-”

“You really think I’m so stupid I would send only two of my best to a three man fight? I mean think about it, how do you think the emerald got returned?”

“There was a third assassin…?”

“She took the emerald, planted the bomb which rendered you defenseless and stayed on standby to collect information. The first two assassins may have failed but the third truly proved the fruits of our efforts.”

Lupin cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner. It seemed obvious, but he didn’t have time to beat himself up over it now. The director looked back at the group, as if waiting for some kind of response to his convoluted explanation. When he was met with silence, he shrugged, turning back and continuing through another long corridor.

“We have the power here to extract, suspend, remove and add memories to any vessel we deem fit. Everyone around you shares the same ‘file’, so to speak, consisting of memories collected from the best fighters in the world. Everything ‘unnecessary’ is disposed of, leaving only components that aid them in improving their ability as killers. Therefore, everyone around you knows what happened that night you took the emerald, even if they weren’t physically there. It went through many years of trial and error to perfect it and with the serum we found- the one you’ve been trying to steal from us- we found a way to create humans that operate at peak performance.”

“Serum?” Jigen questioned.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t tell your own underlings?” the director suggested cruelly, already knowing the answer.

Lupin was looking back at him, cold and furious.

“What is he talking about, Lupin?” Fujiko pressed.

“If you don’t tell them, I will.”

Lupin didn’t break eye contact, but couldn’t bring himself to speak. His shoulders tensed and his teeth ground together, and every part of him wanted to tear the man before him apart, but he couldn’t. It became all too apparent to him that he was surrounded not by super-soldiers, but rather slaves to this disgusting man. Everyone around him had their life, they had everything taken away from them. His eyes grazed the crowd and landed on a tall, black-haired woman and he wondered briefly who she was before this very moment. Little did he know, she was wondering the same thing. She was dressed differently from the others, clearly not fitting the description of a particularly strong fighter, and her eyes also spoke a contrary hollowness from the rest. Though she didn’t speak, there was something spoken between them only Lupin could hear. They don’t deserve this.

“Very well,” the director shrugged, “Lupin wasn’t after the emerald on it’s own. Inside the capsule was a serum recently discovered to flow in the same vein as gems. Most commonly found alongside-”

“Rubies,” Lupin spoke between gritted teeth.

“Ah, so you can speak. We were storing the serum in the emerald under the assumption that in plain sight, nobody would be able to take it and therefore we would always have a sample of it. In order to transport other vials of the substance, I had it disguised as various treasures that could easily be disguised in an auction.”

Fujiko lifted her head.

“I’ll admit this time I was clumsy, and in an attempt to protect the identity of the man I sent to ‘purchase’ the item, the auctioneer didn’t know who was supposed to receive it, only that they would be the highest bidder. The man I sent disappeared the morning of and by the time I caught on they were already in the hands- or on the feet, rather- of your friend here. I don’t suppose you know what happened to that man I sent, do you Lupin?”

He turned on his heels to continue his walk. The sound of shoes squeaking against the too-clean tile sent a chill up Lupin’s spine, wincing from the bothersome sound irritating his ear in a painful way.

“I wonder Lupin, if you didn’t dispose of my man knowing that woman was going to be there? In fact I wonder if your team even knew about your grand plan at all from the looks of things.”

Lupin finally brought himself to stop drilling a hole into the back of the man’s head with his eyes, in favour of searching for a look of understanding from his friends. He felt his guts turn at the sight of Jigen, looking at him with a betrayal he’d never seen before. Goemon still hadn’t opened his eyes, or his mouth, but simply walked in silence. Fujiko on the other hand, became very vocal. It seemed she noticed with clarity now the way he had played naive earlier as to what the liquid in the handle of that dagger had been… The way she’d been tricked into going to that auction and buying those stupid, stupid-

“Why didn’t you tell us!?” Fujiko buckled slightly, but straightened at the knife the man behind her was holding. Her hands were balled into fists and her cheeks were red with unreleased anger. He looked toward his feet, which now weighed heavy on his whole body, alongside his heart which similarly felt like it was being dragged across the ground. He wanted to explain himself, to tell them there was a reason for everything, but swallowed the feeling down his hoarse throat. It dragged like a knife down his esophagus but an outburst would get them killed, and he accepted the feeling, preparing himself for whatever the director had in store for them next.


	8. Chapter Eight

They were tossed into a metal room, and their arms and legs were tied. As they placed them against the wall, they were searched, removing various gadgets and concealed weapons off their person. Sitting side by each, they faced the elderly man once more.

“Once the machines are set up we’ll be suspending your memory as we sort and dissect your life, bit by bit, until only the essentials remain.”

“If you just wanted to clone us there are easier ways, y’know?” Lupin tried.

“Ah, but a ‘clone’ implies we’ll maintain any form of your identity. No, once your memories are sorted we’ll complete the process of deleting them, removing any trace of personality. Consider it a standing death. Sure, you’ll walk and talk and breathe, but you won’t be Lupin the Third anymore. That part of your life will be gone.”

“What do you mean by suspending our memory?” Goemon spoke for the first time since they’d been captured.

“Our analyzing equipment which uses the memory serum, scans your brain for a time where the serotonin chemical was produced in large quantities. From there the machine connects to your sensory system, placing you into that memory. You’ll relive the moment in bliss until the process of memory sorting is complete and then your identity will die along with that moment that made you the happiest.”

“Why not suspend us in a miserable memory? You must be a little remorseful if you let people be at their most peaceful for their last moments,” Fujiko asked.

“If only it were that poetic,” he laughed, “The true reason is that you won’t struggle. If you detect no danger, why would you fight? It’s a process which my subordinates conduct to manually view each memory for traces of useful skill or purpose that will aid my cause. It wouldn’t exactly make it very easy for us if you struggled all the way through it. Granted, we tried sedating patients, but we found if the brain isn’t running at full capacity it makes it difficult to distinguish the accuracy of a memory. Harder to pick apart that way. This way, you relive the last happy memory you’ll ever have until it’s finally removed like the useless material to us it is.”

They all seemed to settle in silence. The director turned and called for someone to begin the preparation of the machines, and the door was latched shut behind him. For a moment there was a prickling quiet filled only with obvious anger directed at Lupin. Jigen was the first to speak up.

“So you didn’t think it was important to let your friends in on your stupid plan?”

“I had my reasons,” Lupin said, already beginning his escape, “I swear.”

“Then I’d love to hear it, y’know, before I get my entire life removed from my fucking head,” Jigen snapped back.

“Hey, cool it, okay? I’m going to get us out of this.”

“How?”

“I can’t tell you-” he slid from the ropes and stood up.

“Big shock, you’re hiding something again.”

Lupin felt his face heat up, not wanting to make things worse. He reached into his shoe, which the men foolishly didn’t remove, and pulled out a small grappling pulley. Telling them the plan risked the scanners finding out what he was going to do before he even got a chance to do it. He knew they wouldn’t like the idea that he would be leaving alone, but attempting to leave all at once ran the risk of none of them making it out successfully. If the odds of him getting out were almost a hundred percent versus a fifty-fifty if they all booked it, he had to make the less risky move. Afterall, the director said the process was manual. There was no way they’d be able to get through a lifetime of memories in the span of an afternoon. He had time, and he wished he could tell his friends that, just to let them know he wasn’t betraying them. Just to let them know they’d be safe.

“Why can’t you trust us all the sudden!? What the hell did we do that you just pull shit like this that’s going to get us all killed,” Jigen continued.

Just stay focused, Lupin… Don’t let it get to you…

“Say something for God’s sake!” Jigen berated, “You really think there’s enough time left for us to have secrets-!?”

“And you’re better than me?” Lupin caved, “Like you don’t hide stuff from me!?”

Jigen pulled back at this. Even Goemon seemed to flinch at the words slightly, already bracing for what was coming.

“I don’t know what you mean…” Jigen acted coy.

“Sure you don’t,” Lupin swung the pulley device toward the vent in the wall, toward the ceiling, catching it and getting ready to pull it down, “It’s none of my business right?”

“It’s different, you have no idea-!”

“So I’m supposed to trust you aimlessly but I can’t expect the same from my best friend in return? You didn’t trust me in the first place! If you can’t even tell me what those-”

“Don’t say it,” Jigen demanded coldly.

“Pills!” Lupin barked back, “Pills, pills pills! What are those pills for!? I don’t want to expect the worst from you but if it’s not that bad then hey, maybe you would’ve said something. But what do I know? I’m an untrustworthy, shitty friend!”

With that Lupin pressed the button of the gadget, which dragged him toward the vent capped in the side of the wall along the ceiling. He crawled through, but froze slightly, feeling the cold metal of the vent against his fingers, feeling the walls close in tighter, feeling the pressure of the words he’d just said. Lupin shook the thought from his head stubbornly. He can save them. He would save them. He just needed help. And there was only one person who could help him now.

~

Zenigata was walking through the city on his lunch, and never having been to Vienna, he was eager to find a new ramen place to get familiar with. Ever aware though, he noticed the ringing of a telephone from a private phone booth begin ringing almost as soon as he stepped past it. He turned, reluctantly, doubting the call at first.

There’s no way these things receive calls, right? He thought, Unless…

With bravado he opened the door of the booth and swung the still-ringing phone off the hook. For a moment, he briefed the idea that the person on the end may not be the notorious thief, and instead opted for his usual, professional introduction.

“This is Inspector Zenigata of the-”

“ICPO,” the voice on the other side replied, “International police officer and TIME’s number one voted hardest working man of the year.”

“That last half isn’t true,” Zenigata felt the need to point out the obvious, but bounced back from the distraction, “What do you want you … you…”

“Goon? Bastard? Scoundrel? Cu-”

“What do you want?” Zenigata rephrased.

“I need your help,” Lupin explained, “There’s something big going on and-”

“No, I helped you enough already! I’ve had enough helping criminals!”

“You have to listen, Goemon and Fujiko and Jigen were-”

“Why should I be the one to solve your problems? If you had a little fight with your friends then it isn’t any of my business. Now unless this is somehow leading up to you turning yourself in then I’m hanging up.”

There was a long drawn silence where he briefly wondered if Lupin had already beaten him to it.

“Lupin-?”

“Zenigata if you don’t help me I’ll lose everything.”

“Hm?” he wondered if he misheard, having never heard such a serious, sorrowful tone from the thief, “What are you saying…?”

“I took on more than I could handle, I put them all in danger, and if it means turning myself in I don’t care but I can’t leave things the way they are.”

“If we work together I could just arrest you at any time,” Zenigata spoke seriously, “Why are you trusting me?”

“...because if I lose them then I won’t be Lupin the Third anymore anyway.”

It was Zenigata’s turn to be speechless. He could tell from the tone in Lupin’s voice, the severity of the words he was saying. With every fibre of his being he wanted to say no and end his streak of letting Lupin get his way. However, he had to admit to himself he wasn’t a monster.

“I’ll do it.”

“Pops…”

“But I won’t let you forget your promise to turn yourself in!”

“‘Course not,” Lupin responded, with an audible smile, “Thanks, Pops.”

Zenigata lifted the phone away from his head with a shaking hand and brought it back down onto the dial, hanging it up with as much aggression as possible.

When did I start getting a soft spot for these guys…

Pushing his hat down onto his head, as if trying to cover a shame that nobody could have possibly known about, he knocked the door of the booth open and walked out onto the sidewalk. Stopping in his tracks, he came to the realization he forgot to ask Lupin where to find him. In the same moment he turned to walk back to the booth to look for some kind of anger, a taxi conveniently pulled next to him. Rolling down the window, the driver revealed himself to be none other than Lupin in a bit of a half-ass disguise.

Zenigata sighed at the sight, and crawled into the front seat of the car, crossing his arms after buckling in and waited for Lupin’s instructions.

“So,” Zenigata begrudgingly spat the words, “What’s the plan?”


	9. Chapter Nine

“The memory stealers?” Zenigata questioned, “You were serious before?”

“Of course I was! What would I gain from making Goemon pretend he didn’t know you?”

“It’s not that,” he pointed the end of his lit cigarette toward Lupin sternly, “I mean there’s a million ways to lose your memory! I just didn’t think ‘a cult stealing them’ was even in the top ten...”

He seemed to follow around the story of the cult stealing the emerald back, the gang infiltrating the treasury again, and the fight he’d had with Jigen, Fujiko, and Goemon but… he wasn’t convinced that any memory serum could possibly exist. After all, it was a little hard to believe something that crazy could be real. There had to be a way to convince him that it wasn’t just some injury that made Goemon forget the inspector... but it was a matter of explaining it in terms he would understand and want to help him. There was an assumption in his head he had made about the soldiers he’d seen at the treasury’s underground, and thinking critically, it might be the theory that landed him Zenigata’s help.

“Is there a case open at the ICPO right now for reports of several missing people?”

“Of course there is,” he replied in an obvious tone, “People go missing like socks in the laundry, unfortunately.”

“No, no, I mean…” Lupin thought for a moment, “Could you identify some of the people if they were standing right in front of you?”

“A handful of them. It’s not necessarily my division but I like to take a good look at the photos so I can help as an extra set of eyes.”

“If I bring you to the soldiers they have there, I guarantee you you would recognize more than a handful of them. That’s where I need your help, actually.”

Zenigata tapped the ash into the ashtray of the car, listening a little more closely at that.

“The people that they’re keeping there aren’t there because they want to be. They’ve forgotten everything about themselves! Their names, their birthdays, their family- and I can’t in good faith take them down with the director.”

“Take down the director!? I’m not about to stand by and let you murder-”

“Arrest, arrest, arrest,” Lupin dodged, “I can’t let them all be arrested and punished alongside that man when it’s not their fault. If you’re there you get the credit of dismantling a major functioning cult and returning a lot of innocent missing people to their families. You’ll be a hero!”

“Hero…?” Zenigata seemed intrigued.

“And I already promised to turn myself in afterwards once my gang is back to safety. For you, this is a win-win scenario. What do you say?”

The inspector crushed his cigarette out and crossed his arms tightly toward his chest. Lupin waited for some sort of response, but the gears were ever-turning in Zenigata’s head. Whatever he was thinking, it was vital that he stayed on Lupin’s side and as they approached the warehouse Lupin planned to get supplies for the mission from, he feared his yet-to-be partner was already backing out. He parked the Fiat and reached for the handle, but pulled his hand back at the sound of Zenigata’s voice.

“Lupin, why were you after the serum?”

“Huh?”

“You said earlier that you were only after the emerald for the serum in it. If the serum does everything that you say it does, why did you want it?”

“To get it out of the wrong hands, of course,” Lupin defended himself, albeit poorly.

“Then why didn’t you tell the rest of your gang?”

Lupin knew he was caught. He pulled the keys from the Fiat. He settled back in the seat, and Zenigata could tell from his change in demeanor that the conversation was turning for a serious tone. He copied him, settling into the seat, not wanting to watch his face as he spoke.

“You know everything about me, don’t you?” Lupin asked.

“As much as the previous detective and I have gathered, yes.”

“So you know about my father?”

“Lupin the Second? Of course.”

“Right, well,” Lupin lifted his hand, looking at the veins trailing around, “Then do you know about the accident?”

Zenigata thought back to one of the various times he’d looked through the archives. It’d been a while since he looked at the Lupin the Second files, but he could remember something about his motorcycle being found destroyed, the sidecar mangled and the rest of the bike about 10 some-odd miles ahead shortly before he was never seen again. There weren't many details on it, but many theorized Lupin the Second died in the accident and his body either was destroyed or eaten. It was a bleak document, but there were few things in the archive that left anything less than a bad taste after reading.

“The motorcycle accident your father died in...?”

“He wishes he died in it. You’re close though,” Lupin corrected, “I was on the motorbike when he crashed it, did your files ever tell you that?”

“Jesus…”

“That sight of watching him leave-”

“You wanted the memory serum,” Zenigata mumbled, interrupting him, “To forget the accident?”

Lupin stared up at the ceiling.

“I didn’t think things would get this out of hand.”

Zenigata sat up this time, with vigor, opening the door and slamming it shut, marching toward the warehouse. Lupin followed his actions, getting out and calling after him.

“I’ll take that to mean you’re going to help me?”

“Lupin,” he didn’t look at him, “I can sympathize with you. I wouldn’t wish that kind of pain you must have felt on even my worst enemy… but everything you know about yourself right here, right now, is important.”

He turned, pointing directly at Lupin, surprising him slightly from the booming voice hitting his sensitive ear first.

“If you want to get rid of something that makes you who you are, then you might as well get rid of everything! Everyone has something they’d rather not think about, but if we forget everything that’s hurt us then we’ll forget how we recovered too!”

The thief stood there, with his hands in his pocket, listening to the lecture with a strange sense of acceptance. Realizing his own lecture, Zenigata reflexively looked away and continued his walk to the warehouse. Lupin couldn’t help but smile at the gesture, catching up to open the doors. It was time to gather supplies and get ready for the biggest rescue mission Lupin had ever planned.

~

“Director, what should we do-?”

“Follow through with the procedure so we’ll at least have a bigger profile built with a swordsman, a gunman and a spy. Never question a gift when it falls right into your lap, yes? They may not have been the targets but they’re far from fallen fruit. To be safe, send four men out to look for Lupin, though I have a strange feeling he’ll be returning to us very soon.”

“Yes, sir,” the subordinate replied.

Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko were already placed in the pods lined up in preparation for the memory sorting. They were held down by their chest and legs, and had transmitters attached to their head, connected to a long, wire-like tube that the serum would be sent through. It was a modified serum, one that was created for the purpose of elevating the mind to a more malleable state in contrast to the weapon serum, designed to remove memories on contact. With the director removing himself from the room to return to business above ground as well as the subordinate leaving to lead the attack on Lupin, the only people who remained in the room were Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko, and the subordinate in charge of memory sorting.

She was a tall woman, with curly black hair that sat in a tuft on her head, and much like the other workers there, had been modified to work efficiently as a computer tech. In her head was decades worth of experience from hundreds of different people from all around the world. Whatever her name was before the memory erasure, she did not know, but to the director she was R-088. She initiated the computer scan for a suspendable memory in the thieves and within a few moments, the results appeared. On the screen were various memories each member of the gang felt they were happiest, and it was up to her to determine which one they’d be suspended in. It didn’t matter much really which one she chose, but she chose to skim through nonetheless, before making her choice.

She decided to begin with Fujiko, interested in learning more about the mysterious woman. Even with the information they’d gathered, her profile was slim to none. She was a spy, and whatever made her so successful was only proven by the few things known about her. The computer unveiled a long stretch of memory for her to scan yet before R-088 began the sorting process, she stood from her chair, and leaned over the pod containing Fujiko. Watching the serene, calm face that lay before her she realized that beneath her was a human being, with independent thought, emotion, experience that she no longer knew. As much as she wanted to be jealous, to be loyal to the director, there was a string of pain around her heart.

She had to agree, the director’s system was almost perfect. There was little to nothing she didn’t understand about technology, new and old, and she knew that there was nobody outside this facility who could compare to her skill. However, despite having her personal life removed, no longer knowing her family, her friends, her old life, she could still be sure of one thing. There was no way to remove someone’s spirit. She wanted a life outside of the underground, something to call her own. Briefly, the image of the thief staring her down flashed behind her eyelids. All she could hope for now was for Lupin to return for his friends. Only then, would she have a chance to be free.


	10. Chapter Ten

Zenigata burst into the director’s office with his usual overwhelming energy. Bringing a note down onto his desk, he began phase one of Lupin’s plan.

“What’s the meaning of this, inspector!?”

“Lupin sent a calling card last night that he’d be returning for the emerald tonight!” Zenigata announced, referring to the note on the director’s desk.

He lifted the paper slowly, and examined the page. Across it, in curly handwriting were the words Zenigata had spoken, with the exception of ‘emerald’. In its place it said ‘treasure’, which the director smiled at coyly.

“You think this is a joke!?”

“Of course not,” he clarified, “But our security is fine the way it is. We had protection in place the last time he stole the emerald, and I’m confident he won’t be successful this time. However, if you’d like to stay, I understand that Lupin is in your jurisdiction so I won’t ask you to leave.”

Zenigata could detect the backhanded tone the director was giving him, but thanked him for his approval.

“I’m going to instruct the security camera team to keep a special eye on the emerald for tonight. If there’s anything suspicious I’ll personally let you know. Lupin is a master of disguise-”

“Yes, yes,” the director shooed him off.

He cursed to himself at the lack of respect, but continued on his way to the security room. Letting his eyes wander the walls, dotted with its own ornate designs and rich artistry, he followed the wall toward the first checkpoint in Lupin’s plan. Waiting within the room was his impromptu, or perhaps involuntary, partner. Lupin had already knocked out the guards and was in the process of bringing them into the corner of the room to tie them up.

“Hey, Pops! Right on time.”

“You swear to me these men aren’t injured?” Zenigata eyed the scene before him.

“I swear to you these men will come back just as, if not healthier, than before I knocked ‘em out,” Lupin answered, crossing a finger over his heart.

“Right…” Zenigata didn’t reply confidently, turning toward the wall of active security screens, “So all I have to do is keep him away from this hallway?”

He was pointing towards a screen toward the lower left, where Lupin had explained earlier that the secret entrance to the basement was located. It required a bit of research and hacking into the security system, but Lupin had managed to locate the door which otherwise blended seamlessly into the wall.

“Less ‘keeping him away’ and ideally more ‘keeping him out-of-the-know’,” he finished tying the guards, “Don’t let him know that I’m heading in and if you see him heading toward the entrance, create a distraction. He never comes toward the security room so you should be safe here, especially if he doesn’t get up from his desk at all.”

“I assume it won’t be that easy.”

“Probably not,” Lupin shrugged, “But I’m relying on you to make it happen.”

Zenigata didn’t respond, sitting in one of the rolling chairs at the security desk, watching the director with extreme contempt. Looking at things critically, even partnered with a master thief, he was still not standing on the side of evil. If everything Lupin said was going on was true, which it was, there’d be no greater satisfaction than arresting the scumbag.

“Wish me luck,” Lupin whispered at the doorway, getting ready to return to the basement.

“Good luck,” he replied, much to Lupin’s surprise.

He smiled, turning the doorknob and slipping into the hallway, leaving his life in Zenigata’s hands. Making his way into the basement wasn’t difficult, only requiring a discreet slide lock in the wall to open, and a quick jump into the ventilation shaft in the ceiling to keep himself incognito from any possible soldiers standing guard. Wisely, the ventilation between the public area and his despicable lair of manipulation was kept separately, preventing Lupin simply crawling from ceiling to ceiling. Luckily Zenigata had eyes on the basement as well, the security covering all areas of the buildings. If he found anyone catching on to Lupin’s presence he could let Lupin know through his earpiece. Lupin was confident he had his back covered.

Relying on the small map of the basement he’d constructed from memory, he’d created a path to follow based on the process of elimination to find the rooms where his friends could possibly be. He peeked between vents to check out the rooms, slowly making his way down the row, before spotting the familiar faces of Jigen, Fujiko and Goemon, all hooked up to the machines. Admittedly, his anger got the best of him, and he burst from the ventilation shaft with his gun drawn, pointing it dominantly toward the woman at the computer. She turned fearfully toward him, and before he could speak he noticed the look of… happiness, across her face.

“It’s you!” she exclaimed, coming to a stand with both hands raised, “I knew you would come!”

“I wasn’t about to let you bastards turn my friends to zombies,” he spat back.

“N-no you’re misunderstanding!” she brought her hands to her chest, “I don’t want to either, I want to help you.”

“...Why?”

“Honestly, I just need something in return.”

“There’s always a catch,” Lupin tightened the grip on his gun, not lowering it from her frame.

“All th-that I ask… is for you to take me with you when you leave…”

She’d lowered her hands and raised her head, revealing her face more clearly to Lupin now. He was an excellent judge of character, and could see the genuine desire for freedom in her eyes. The honesty he’d just heard from her was unlike the tone he’d heard from the soldiers he’d spoken to at the bathhouse. Slowly, he lowered his weapon.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but you may call me R-088.”

“Alright, R-088,” Lupin began, though not entirely satisfied with the robotic name, “Shut off the system and I’ll find some room in the getaway car for you.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not that easy,” she admitted, “The system has already begun. If I force them out now it could cause permanent damage to their memory.”

“Then how am I-”

“I haven’t deleted any of their memories yet, so at the moment they’re the exact same as they were before they started the process,” she interrupted, “The serum not only lets me sort the memories, but I can alter them as well. In other words, I can remove certain people from memories as well as add certain people.”

“Adding people…”

“I can hook you up to the machine in a non-susceptible state in which you can enter your friend’s memory and change them how you see fit, and I won’t be able to access your memories during this process. You’ll be able to leave at any time if you need me to help you.”

“So if I go in, I can convince them to wake up?”

“Precisely! Since I can’t suspend them in any memory providing serotonin levels below a fifty-percent value, I’m afraid your challenge is going to be convincing them to leave a place that makes them happy. All I can do is change the memory to the barely qualifying memories, and allow you to lower the serotonin level to below fifty-percent, thereby booting them from their own memory and causing them to wake up. It’s a catch in the system I noticed, where there’s no automatic switch to the next qualifying memory. This is your only chance to wake them up.”

Lupin thought about it for a moment. Well, a few moments. It took him longer than he’d like to admit to understand what she meant. Basically, he had to wake them from a dream - and she’d make sure that dream wasn’t a paradise Lupin would have to tear them out of. Quite frankly, Lupin wouldn’t want to ruin those memories for them either.

There was a chance she was lying, a chance that he’d be hooked to the machine and he’d never wake up. But it was a chance he had to take. He looked in her eyes once more, reassuring his gut feeling that she wasn’t like the others.

“I’m going in,” he decided, “Whoever you want to connect me to first, as long as I get all three of them by the end it doesn’t matter what order I save them in.”

“We’ll start with Fujiko then,” she sat down at the computer, “Her lowest qualifying memory is only fifty-five percent.”

“Any advice before I go in?” he asked.

“Avoid opening with ‘I’m trying to wake you up from a memory stealing device’.”

“Why?”

“Because if I were to tell you you were stuck in a memory right now,” she looked toward him, ”You wouldn’t believe me would you?”

Lupin nodded and walked over to the pods containing his friends, eyeing the fourth pod next to them, empty and waiting for him.

“Just lay down. For the insusceptible state you don’t require memory nodes attached to you.”

He admittedly didn’t understand entirely, but laid down nonetheless. He closed the lid shut himself, and waited for the machine to kick in. Aside from a small light and occasional clicks of working wires, he genuinely didn’t feel trapped. In that moment he had a surge of confidence, overwhelming the feeling of failure. He wasn’t going to give himself the option to fail. Within seconds, he felt his consciousness drifting slowly, swirling the vision of the small light, dimming the sound of the wires and warping into an unfamiliar sight.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Lupin lightened his steps, hoping to catch Fujiko by surprise. He could already tell from his surroundings he wasn’t already in this memory, and might be interrupting something vital to the memory. Interrupting was inevitable, especially in a memory he knew for a fact he wasn’t a part of, but he decided to rely on subtlety to get him through the mission. He found her in a hallway in her black bodysuit, the one she used most often for thievery, still humming to herself in front of an oil painting still obscured from his view.

“Forgive me if I ask too much,” she hummed softly, “I will not ask for more, but I shall weep until he sleeps-”

“-Safe upon the shore.”

Fujiko gasped, surprised at the sight of Lupin and instinctively shined a flashlight at his person.

“Lupin! Why didn’t you tell me you were after this too!?”

“Come on, even if I wanted it I’d never take it from you.”

Fujiko shut off the light and crossed her arms, returning her gaze to the painting. Lupin stood next to her, with his hands in his pockets and took in the sight of a painting. A ship, in the midst of the evening light returning to shore in a gilded gold-like frame. He looked at Fujiko from the corner of his eyes and could tell she was completely immersed.

“I’ve never told you this,” she started, “But I used to live by the sea.”

“Really?”

“Mmhm…” she trailed off.

He recognized the painting as the same one hanging in her room at her manor, meaning this is definitely the memory explaining its origin. Lupin thought about what he was going to have to say next. With absolutely no sign of a security guard or active camera in sight, she must have taken no chances and covered all possible ground. There was really nothing standing between her and the painting, which meant there was a chance Lupin could be the thing standing between her and this obvious source of happiness in Fujiko’s life.

“So you’re gonna take it?” he asked, pulling a lighter and cigarette from his jacket pocket.

“Obviously, genius,” Fujiko finally broke her concentration to look at Lupin like he was an idiot, “I didn’t come to just look at it.”

“Hey, play nice,” Lupin scolded jokingly.

When his cigarette was lit, the reflection in his lighter caught his attention. He turned it over in his fingers in an analytical way.

“You’re acting awful vain,” she noticed, “Can’t take your eyes off your own reflection?”

The next thoughts that passed through his mind made him tense inside. What he had to do was becoming obvious, though undesirable and unlike him. But… he had to do it. After his stretch of silence, he noticed a strange lack of colour in the room, and realized his opportunity was showing itself. 

“Lupin-?”

“How long have you been staring at that painting, Fujiko?”

She blinked at the odd question, but checked the slim gold watch on her wrist to confirm her answer. Yet the answer didn’t come. Lupin approached her, gently taking her wrist like a delicate piece of art itself and checked for himself what he already knew.

“Either your watch is a dud,” he pointed out, “Or time’s not really moving is it?”

“Oh, come on, Lupin,” she pulled her wrist back, “Which one of those sounds more likely?”

He shifted his sleeve up to show her his own watch, in a similar state. Ticking lightly, yet unmoving. She looked at it, and furrowed her brow.

“What’s going on?”

“That doesn’t matter,” he moved from the topic, remembering R-088’s warning, “What matters is that I need you to leave with me now.”

“‘Now’? Lupin, I’m not leaving without this painting-”

“I need you to trust me,” he interrupted, this time reaching out for her hand rather than taking it.

She didn’t reach out to him, still eyeing him with her usual stubborn attitude. Lupin had to think fast, think of something that would prove things weren’t right aside from two broken watches. And before long… he pulled out his gun.

“L-Lupin-?” she stammered, watching him point it toward one of the large ornate windows, “Lupin, are you crazy? That’ll set off the alar-!”

With an enormous bang the bullet freed itself from the gun, hitting the window and shattering it completely. Glass showered over them, yet didn’t hurt them at all. In fact, neither of them could even feel it. On instinct, Fujiko covered her ears with her hands in anticipation of the alarm… that never came. No… she was positive in her weeks of research on the place that damage to the window would activate the motion detectors and the alarms would blare. She’d looked into when the alarms were last updated, and previous attempts from far less experienced thieves ended in the same result every time…

She took one last look between her watch, then again at Lupin.. Some sense of concern ebbing across her face.

Lupin swallowed the guilt, trying to keep in mind that in real life, she did own the painting, and he wasn’t making her leave it behind for no reason. The room was growing grey and transparent, and slowly, she extended her hand sadly. Upon contact, Lupin felt a fuzzy feeling in his head growing somehow louder until the room around them grew white and empty. He watched Fujiko’s eyes adjust to their new surroundings (or lack thereof), watching her more recent memories spiral back to her. After a long pause filled only by breathing, she spoke.

“Lupin… why didn’t you tell us about this?” she asked quietly, “About the serum, about the memory wipes… about any of this?

“We’re standing here and you’re wondering why I didn’t want any of you guys involved?” Lupin jested, “I...I…”

His thoughts left him for a moment. He searched his brain for excuses, thinking only of himself and his own reasons and they all pointed back to the same thing.

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

“You don’t know!?” she seemed unimpressed and angry.

The thief shook his head.

“I guess I didn’t want you guys to know why I wanted the serum at all. You’ve been wondering about it haven’t you?”

Her stare was cold and unmoving, yet not deprived of emotion. An air of disappointment… a tinge of sadness...

“Do you remember when we were younger?” he asked, and waited for her to nod, “Those scars I used to have…”

Fujiko could see the sore being pulled wide open, and it wasn’t from a lack of empathy, or a sense of disgust or fright, that she stopped him. She held up a graceful hand toward his mouth, her finger pointing out for him to hush.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“You.. don’t?” Lupin stood closer to her, “You really don’t want to know...?”

He’d known Fujiko to be an inquisitive type, someone who couldn’t stand to be out of the know. However, she was also known to change on a dime. Yet this interruption… stung a little. She looked up at him, a cool smirk across her lipstick clad lips.

“You got in through the computer didn’t you? You had access to a hard drive filled with everything there is to know about me.”

“Yeah… I guess I did..”

“You’ve never asked me about my past. I think it’s only fair that if you make sure the computer is wiped after we get out of here, I’ll never ask you what happened back then,” she said, remembering all too well the deep purple scars across Lupin’s body in his youth, “That’s the way it is between us, isn’t it?”

Not knowing anything about her, and knowing nothing about him. He could sense the survival instinct kick in across Fujiko’s expression, as if letting Lupin in would make her vulnerable. As if becoming attached to him would make her weak. 

When the gang was still young and new and starting, Fujiko did often wonder about Lupin’s scars, and Lupin’s past. Yet the wound was too new to broach the topic at the time. Even Jigen had warned her not to tread so confidently. Perhaps Jigen was scared then, too. She never imagined those wounds would culminate… to this.

“If that’s what you want Fujiko.” he spoke sadly, but genuinely and from the heart, “Then I’ll do it.”

“We’re both better when we’re mysteries aren’t we?”

Lupin didn’t have an answer to that.

Abruptly and all too quickly the space around them changed once more, fading into the blackness of his inner eyelids, awakening him to the centre of the pod before he could reach his hand for Fujiko. When his eyes agreed to listen he opened them to the lab, the lid on his pod already opened with R-088 hovering above him. She looked delighted, even impressed, as Lupin sat up drearily.

“Y-you did it!” she exclaimed, as if not entirely faithful that he could.

“Takes a lot out of you…” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. Fujiko was sitting up next to him, rubbing her forehead, staring down at herself and understandably confused.

“Mine Fujiko,” R-088 began excitedly, “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt better,” she looked up, then suddenly recognized the woman, “You’re releasing us?”

“I’m not releasing you, I’m just allowing Lupin to do it himself.”

Fujiko blinked slowly.

“R-088 here can explain it to you. In the meantime, I have to go back in for them,” Lupin laid back down, bracing for the machine to send him back again, “Who's next?”

He could hear R-088’s flats walking across the porcelain tiles and toward the computer, a few idle clicks before her voice rang out, “Ishikawa Goemon, Memory Status: seventy-five percent. You may have a tough time here, Lupin. I’d go to a lower memory but all the ones I’m finding are very inopportune for your presence in them.”

He was about to respond, reaching his hand to grab the lid, but was interrupted.

“He can do it,” Fujiko defended him, “I know he can.”

Lupin smiled to himself, shutting the lid and getting ready for another transition into the memory of another friend.


	12. Chapter Twelve

A calm, refreshing feeling washed over him as he drifted into Goemon’s memory. Lupin had to admit, he was excited to see what made him so happy in this particular memory, yet crushed knowing he was going to have to ruin it for him somehow. Opening his eyes, he was standing in front of Goemon’s old apartment. It was a sight for sore eyes, the front having a clean looking wooden door with a silver handle, and a small tree sitting in a cute pot outside the front door. There was a window open, and Lupin could hear the sound of running water. He rapped on the door with the back of his hand, waiting for Goemon to answer. Hearing a few steps slowly growing louder, the door knob turned and there stood Goemon. A bit younger, but still him.

“Lupin? What are you doing here?”

“Do I need a reason to visit?” he joked, letting himself in.

He could smell soap in the air, suggesting Goemon was cleaning before he’d arrive, and the suds in the kitchen sink confirmed it. A nice breeze wafting through, a nice clean apartment, a bit of solitude, it made sense why this would be happy for him. Even looking at his face, he looked like there was nothing in the world bothering him.

“You look good,” Lupin pointed out.

“Do I?”

“Yeah,” he nosed around the apartment, looking for the core of the memory, “Did something good happen to you lately?”

“Not really.”

His responses were dry, which weren’t unusual for Goemon. If anything it makes him better at telling jokes, Lupin found. Everything seemed just as it was, or at least as far as he remembered it being, leaving him with no hints as to what he had to do to wake Goemon up. Starting up some idle chit chat, their half-conversation was interrupted by a clicking at the front door.

“Goemon! I’m back!” a voice called.

Lupin recognized the voice, as well as a new smell in the air.

“You’re back early,” Goemon replied to her, suddenly diverting his attention from Lupin.

The thief realized suddenly that the memory had only just commenced. Rounding the corner into the kitchen was Murasaki, in a lovely red coat and a yellow scarf wrapped around her mouth and neck to protect her from the chilly autumn air, holding a small white box.

“I got us something on my way back from work,” she spoke, almost singing.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Go on, open it!”

She placed the box in Goemon’s hands and began to peel off the extra layers of clothing. Goemon fiddled with the sticker holding the box shut and opened it. Lupin leaned a little casually to see what was in it, and saw two pastries, shaped like fish.

“T-Taiyaki?” Goemon looked between her and the sweets.

“I got a red bean and a custard, you can choose whichever one you want,” Murasaki smiled, having placed her scarf and coat on the back of the dining room chair.

Lupin felt a warm feeling in his chest seeing Goemon’s reaction, it was a subtle change in his demeanor, a light pink in his cheeks, a slight stutter in his voice. However, he also noticed Murasaki’s lack of reaction to him even being there. It was an opportunity to do what he came here to do, as sick as it made him feel to interrupt them.

“Hey, Goemon,” he piped up, catching Goemon’s attention, “Murasaki’s giving me the cold shoulder huh?”

“What?”

“She hasn’t bothered to say ‘hi’ to me or anything. Kind of out of character for her don’t you think?”

He felt at least relieved that he found a give so early on, but was surprised at what happened next.

“What are you talking about, Lupin?” Murasaki asked, looking at Lupin.

No, not at him, but through him.

~

“She responded to him…” Fujiko looked at the monitor, as shocked as Lupin was.

“I figured this might happen,” R-088 admitted, “Your friend’s mind has had enough mental training that he’s a bit more… stubborn, to change.”

“Still, you said Lupin wasn’t there for this memory. If Murasaki never spoke to him, how is she doing it now?”

“Have you ever played fill in the blanks? ‘Nothing gained, nothing…’” she trailed off, waiting for Fujiko.

“‘Earned’.”

“That’s what Goemon’s mind is doing right now. He doesn’t want to believe anything is strange, so his mind is ‘filling in the blanks’. Granted, there is a limit to what he can accomplish just through assumption of what this girl would say rather than what she did say.”

“Which was nothing.”

“Exactly. He can’t make her do anything he wouldn’t expect her to do, and can’t have her say anything he wouldn’t expect her to say.”

“So you’re saying Lupin’s only way through is finding something that Goemon can’t predict?”

“It’s a fine line,” she conceded, “He had an easier time with you because your memory loop was seamless, so it was easier to convince you that something wasn’t right because your mind was never taking a metaphorical break. This memory has breaks, has this other girl, and has a higher status percentage. Lupin really has his work cut out for him...”

~

“O-oh,” Lupin replied, caught off guard, “Sorry, Murasaki.”

He apologized, though he wasn’t genuine knowing there was something off putting in this situation. Thinking critically to himself, he wondered if perhaps he was misremembering. Maybe he was in this memory, maybe he did talk to Murasaki, but he was almost certain he wasn’t here before. There was something strange going on, something that didn’t happen in Fujiko’s memory.

“No worries!” she smiled at him.

Lupin could at least keep his bearings and know this wasn’t Murasaki, no matter what she said. There was no way. Meaning, this was something caused by Goemon’s mind. She returned her attention to Goemon, talking about her day (likely something she really did say in the memory) while Lupin did some serious thinking in his head. If Goemon is trying to think like Murasaki, then that would explain her response, he thought to himself, There’s probably something I can think to ask Murasaki that Goemon would know, but she wouldn’t. 

As he thought of questions, he realized there was likely different ways Goemon’s mind would find a way to work around it. After all, Goemon was a smart cookie. Maybe I’m thinking about this the wrong way. I could try and trick Murasaki into slipping up, but wouldn’t it make more sense to trick Goemon? He could definitely ask Murasaki various questions in an attempt to make her say something out of character, but the obstacle there was that Goemon knew her in a way Lupin didn’t. There would be ways around her answers that Lupin couldn’t foresee. Maybe I need to get Goemon to think something he’d never think of himself…

“Hey, Murasaki?” he called for her attention.

“Yes?”

“Goemon’s training has been going pretty well lately, hasn’t it?” he threw the bait out and watched her face momentarily draw blank, thinking of a response. Or rather, Goemon thinking of a response.

“He could always use more training.”

Lupin noticed Goemon turn his head from the foamy sink. Lupin may not have known Murasaki very well, but he knew from her bubbly nature she would never belittle Goemon’s training. That’s something only Goemon would do.

“Really?” Lupin prodded further.

“I mean he still can’t get the hang of level beam cutting,” she was more monotone this time, “He’s been at it for so long, he should have gotten it by now.”

The apartment suddenly became less vibrant, the colours draining from the previous delightful appearance before. As sick and sad as it made Lupin feel, he knew one of Goemon’s insecurities were his progress in training. Right now, Murasaki had to embody that.

“Murasaki...” Goemon turned from the sink this time, water dripping from his hands.

She usually stood by him in support, encouragement, hopefulness, but now she was completely different. Simply because he could not think of these praises himself, insults and brutal honesty were all that were leaving Murasaki's mouth. The apartment now had become grey and lifeless, and Lupin saw his chance to strike.

Murasaki parted her lips, about to continue her barrage, but the thief stood between them.

“This isn’t like her, is it?”

The samurai looked drained, a sight Lupin wished he wasn’t familiar with.

“This isn’t her, Goemon. The real Murasaki would never say those things to you, but this Murasaki always will. If you come with me I can take you to her. The real Murasaki. The real world.”

Goemon didn’t look confused, or angry, or anything really. Yet Lupin could feel the presence behind him fade, the fake Murasaki contorting away until she ultimately disappeared along with the rest of the apartment which was now becoming an increasingly bright white. Remarkably, Lupin did not have to guide him out of the memory. He was exiting it himself.

When the room turned blank and left only the pair, Lupin was expecting the worst. Goemon was often praised as being very stoic and in control but the thief wasn’t that blind. Compared to him and Jigen… Goemon was still young. Slowly his present memories returned, and a long scar etched itself back across his nose and cheek.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t enough,” Goemon interrupted Lupin as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Enough?”

“Strong enough or fast enough or… or…”

Goemon’s hands were balled into fists of frustration. Lupin was surprised more than anything that the samurai didn’t even seem to care why Lupin did what he did or what was even going on. 

Much like routine, he blinked and was back in the cold metal pod. Fujiko peered at him through the slab of glass above his face and opened the thin, metal door.

“Good morning,” she greeted, pinching at his face as if to wake him up.

“Not for long,” he sighed, feeling the weight on his shoulders, “Jigen’s up next.”

A groan coming from his right alerted him to Goemon’s awakening. The samurai exited the pod and stood a bit shakily on his feet, looking at Lupin a bit warmly.

“Sorry I had to do that to you, buddy.”

“I...I owe you my life,” Goemon responded, pressing a hand onto his own chest as if still shaken at the presence of reality.

“All I do, I do for love,” Lupin gave a somewhat weak peace sign.

R-088 was already at her computer, clicking away rapidly. Without looking at him she passed on her praises as she typed.

“Are you ready for your final confrontation?” she pushed her round glasses up, visibly exhilarated.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he called back, “What am I looking forward to?”

“Actually this was a bit of a unique case where I had to sort through a memory you could reasonably be in. There’s a rare time where I can’t import other’s into a memory due to setting related reasons. His lowest memory was about sixty-percent, but this was the case unfortunately. However, his third least is available.”

“It feels like I’m checking into a busy hotel,” he rubbed his head, “What’s the percentage?”

“Seventy-nine percent!”

“Of course.”

“I should also mention that you are already in this memory,” she pointed out, stepping away from her chair, “This time you aren’t a drop-in.”

He nodded, only somewhat processing the words, laying back down in the pod. R-088 closed the pod, and tapped the glass playfully giving him a thumbs-up. Smiling to himself, Lupin allowed the smell of mist to surround him, the feeling of water on his head and back, and the sound of rain hitting pavement hit his ears. I wonder what makes Jigen happy, Lupin thought to himself before opening his eyes.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

It seemed his legs were already moving, and adjusting to this took little effort, recognizing his own consciousness and gaining an awareness of his surroundings. Currently, he was holding his jacket above his head in a rough bit of rain that his jacket did little to stop, and Jigen was right at his side in a similar way, the pair of them running down the road at a quickened pace.

“There’s an old bus stop over there!” Jigen yelled to him through the surrounding nature.

On the right of the road was a thickened bit of woods and to the left a steep hill overlooking a small town. Slowly, Lupin was remembering what this memory was. Feet meeting varying puddles in the gravel, they eventually halted beneath the rough plastic overhang of the bus stop. It was clear nobody had used it in a long, long time, and Lupin wondered if the bus even came this way anymore. Maybe this was more so for hikers caught in the rain, or in this case thieves. They hadn’t passed a house the whole time they were running, and Lupin couldn’t remember a house before the rain even started either. Throwing their damp jackets onto the bench with a gross splat, they regained their breath.

Lupin remembered why they were out in the rain anyway. This was back when they lived in Kiso Valley, about ten years ago. Back when it was just him and Jigen. He couldn’t really remember why they were on foot, but he knew they ditched the car, maybe because it was broken, maybe because they were being chased, and cut through the forest before getting caught in the rain. He felt a tap on his shoulder while his head was raised toward the sky. It was Jigen nudging him with a pack of cigarettes.

“We’re gonna be here a while.”

Lupin smiled, taking one. In perfect recollection he replied:

“Will these things even light with all the rain?”

It was odd, in his head he knew it wouldn’t, and could remember Jigen struggling with the lighter before, yet said nothing as the gunman pulled his lighter out and repeated the action.

“Guess not,” he shrugged, tucking the cigarette back in his jacket, the lighter back in his pocket.

As the rain pressed on, the pair sat down on the bench and watched the rain patter and fall down the sides of the bus stop. A minute went by, then five, then ten. It was quiet and peaceful just sitting there. The forest was serene, the damp sound of rain meeting dirt, Jigen humming to himself next to him, and Lupin felt an immense sense of calm sitting here. No wonder Jigen felt so happy in this memory. This memory… Lupin was confused by the thought.

~

“Something’s wrong,” Fujiko pointed out.

“How can you tell?” Goemon asked.

“When we were watching him handle your memory, what may have felt like a long time to you was only a handful of minutes for us. Lupin’s just… just…”

“Sitting there,” R-088 finished the sentence.

Goemon looked at the screen curiously. It felt odd watching in on them like a peeping Tom, but what they were saying was true. Lupin was just sitting there, though Goemon didn’t fully understand what was significant about this.

“Why isn’t he saying anything?” R-088 shook her head, “He was so determined before but now he just seems so complacent.”

As if a lightbulb went off in her head she stood abruptly bracing herself on the computer desk. Fujiko was at her side holding her shoulders with concerns about her sudden change in atmosphere.

“What’s wrong-?” Fujiko started, but R-088 was already explaining.

“Lupin was already in this memory of Jigen’s!” she pointed out, “I don’t know why I didn’t take that into consideration…”

“What is it?” Goemon looked abrasive wondering about his partners’ safety.

“This memory could have been one of Lupin’s qualifying memories!”

“But he’s not hooked up to the machine, maybe we can just take him out-”

“If he lets himself synchronize there’s a huge risk that taking him out of the pod now would erase some major memories and damage Jigen’s as a result. You and Goemon can’t be readmitted to the machine without being fully synchronized again which means… which means…”

Fujiko lowered R-088 back into her chair, feeling a ball of sympathy well in her chest recognizing the scientist clearly didn’t intend for this to happen. Goemon returned his vision to the screen, sadly this time, at his partners… his friends.

“Lupin’s the only one who can get himself out of this…” R-088 laid a gentle hand on the screen, the computer she was built to pilot perfectly now acting like an obstacle. She was so close, and now it was all falling apart.

~

Lupin’s mind kept flip flopping between now and the past. The look on Fujiko’s face as she left the painting behind. The rain hitting trees that could’ve reached the sky. The look on Goemon’s face when the fake Murasaki belittled him. The clean air surrounding him. The look on Jigen’s face when he told him to shoot. Lupin looked at him now, leaning with his elbows on his knees, completely at peace next to him. He’d already hurt him, and all his friends, he didn’t want to hurt them anymore. This place isn’t so bad, is it?

…

But it’s a lie.

“Jigen,” he caught the gunman’s attention, “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“So serious,” Jigen jested, “Did you use my toothbrush or something?”

It’s time for the truth.

Lupin loosened his tie, and began unbuttoning his shirt. The gunman simply watched, with no sort of infliction though taking a serious eye to him as he did so. When his arms were pulled from the button down sleeves, his secret was already partially revealed beneath his undershirt.

“I don’t think taking everything off is gonna make it all dry faster,” Jigen tried guessing what was happening, though eventually trailed off as the scar was revealed.

Tugging his undershirt off and over his head, Lupin revealed a pale area of skin stretching around his stomach and ribs, to his back, purple veins peaking from beneath skin that appeared thin. It wasn’t odd having known each other so long to be exposed like this necessarily, though he’d never shown the scar so openly to Jigen before, usually leaving it partially covered or entirely by a bit of cosmetics.

“Back when I was about sixteen my dad came back for the first time in months, saying he needed my help with something. We went on his motorbike to do some bank job, but the hack’s escape plan didn’t involve me.”

Jigen continued his silence, though Lupin could see his body was tense.

“We made it out by the skin of our teeth, the cops were on our tail, we’d just made it out of the city limits and…” Lupin paused, “He clipped the bike against a tree. The sidecar exploded, it-”

He must have struck a chord, because he could hear Jigen’s breathing become uneven, even among the sounds of rain, he could tell.

“My dad left me there because he thought I wanted a share of the loot. But apparently he wanted it more than he wanted his son. More than anything I just wanted to forget it, y’know? But I didn’t want you guys to think I was weak.”

Lupin knew Goemon and Fujiko could hear him too, which didn’t make the story any easier to tell but he wasn’t done yet.

“You aren’t weak,” Jigen cut in before Lupin could continue.

Lupin smiled to himself, a little doubtingly.

“Jigen, I made you do something that you want to forget too, didn’t I?”

The scene was sapped from colour and Lupin felt a sickness in his stomach grow, knowing how far he was going and how badly he wished the words would come back. Jigen was holding his head in pain, pushing his head toward his knees. Lupin could see his gun in it’s usual spot, shoved inadequately down the back of his pants, and he took the opportunity to reach for it. Holding it up for Jigen to see, it was snatched from his hands. Jigen held it in his hand like a hot coal, and standing from the dirty bench and out from underneath the cover of the rain threw the gun far into the woods, throwing the painful object far, far away. With it’s exit, the scene crumbled and changed, for hopefully the last time.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Once he was out of the pod he felt the blessing of solid ground and arms being swung around him, refreshing yet aching against his body. R-088 was ecstatic but it was hard for Lupin to feel proud of what he did. Looking up toward his team, he waited for the well deserved scorn for putting them all through that.

“Lupin, I had no idea…” Fujiko started, folding her hands at her stomach, trying to broach the subject.

“I didn’t expect you to,” Lupin stretched himself tall, “Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing something I should have told you ages ago.”

“But-”

“We can talk about it when we get back to the hideout. For now we gotta expose the director for what he’s been doing here.”

The gang appeared a bit stifled, but seemed to nod in agreement. It was lucky that Lupin happened to bring a spare pistol on him for emergency situations, and handed the weapon to R-088.

“You ready to go home?” he smiled.

She looked down at the weapon affirmatively, nodding at him.

“Your friend’s weapons are in the bin next to my desk there,” she pointed.

“Fujiko can give you a run down of how to work a gun, but it’s pretty simple,” he turned to the spy now, “Fujiko, I need you to get R-088 out of here. Can you do it?”

Fujiko retrieved her Browning from the bin confidently and nodded to Lupin with a small smile, moving around him to R-088’s side to show her the works. The question was of course needless. Of course Fujiko could do it, but he wanted the affirmation rather than the assumption.

“Goemon I need you to get to Zenigata in the security room upstairs and tell him to commence phase two,” Lupin instructed him next, “I know it’s selfish of me to ask but I need you to help Zenigata pull it off.”

Goemon seemed almost amused by this, already having Zantetsuken equipped and heading toward the ventilation shaft Lupin had no doubt entered from. As he walked Lupin could hear him say to himself:

“Seems we’re finally fighting the same battle.”

Lupin didn’t get it, but was now facing Jigen, who looked troubled. Before the thief could speak he was interrupted.

“I gotta’ tell you something,” he scratched at the back of his neck, “Before we go anywhere.”

Fujiko caught the words and made her exit with R-088, giving them a bit of privacy. Lupin buried his hands in his pockets, not wanting to say anything to deter Jigen from telling his story. Jigen leaned on the white wall behind him and sunk to his seat, where Lupin followed suit, sitting a little less than comfortable next to him.

“Back at the bath house, when that woman attacked you,” Jigen breathed with an audible sense of anger still toward the assailant, “When you told me to shoot her-”

Lupin could see where this was headed and felt his voice rise with the sinking of his gut.

“I shouldn’t have made you do that. I shouldn’t have put you in that position but I want you to know I don’t blame you for what happened to my ear at all-”

“Lupin, I thought I killed you.”

He choked on his words suddenly, wide eyed as the words suddenly hit him. For a brief moment he was speechless.

“Y-you thought you…”

“After you blacked out, I… lost it. When Goemon showed up he kind of took on the leader role. He thought you were dead too, but he handled it so much better than I did,” Jigen looked at his hands in a state of shame, “He got the dagger, he carried you to the backseat, hell, he even drove us back. I couldn’t even keep my grip on the steering wheel…”

“Jigen…”

“You were covered in blood and I was just so sure that I shot and killed you. That night was when the panic attacks started.”

“So the pills were...?”

Jigen nodded.

“Goemon found your pulse and he managed to bandage you up half decent before we got an actual doc in. He did all that and I… I told him not to tell you about it,” he looked at Lupin for the first time in the story, “I’m sorry.”

He’d assumed it was something to do with his ear. Lupin had hoped Jigen didn’t take it so personally - really he’d lived through a lot worse. Being deaf in one ear wasn’t going to stop the world’s greatest thief, after all. So, he figured it may have been having to kill the woman at the bathhouse - even Lupin had felt the guilt eating away at him over that. He never knew that the director was using the serum to make these henchmen, but it seemed even now wasn’t the time to be that specific. No… Jigen thought Lupin was dead. Not only dead but killed by his right hand man. Not killed in any great fight against evil or in any almost-perfect heist or by his worst enemy. Killed by a bullet, shot by his best friend, that went just too far to the left.

“Jigen…”

He reached his hand out to the gunman sitting on the floor, offering help up to his feet. It takes Jigen a moment to consider it, before the familiar bronzey hand reaches out in turn. However, Lupin doesn’t take his hand away after the other is pulled to his feet, no, he pulls Jigen in and keeps him there.

“This whole convoluted mess was my fault,” Lupin speaks honestly, “I didn’t think the director was privy to what the serum was capable of.. I only knew he had it in a display case, ripe for the taking. I knew that the director was also the one selling the rare artifacts in auction. I figured once I knew where the secret storage was located, all I’d have to do was walk in and take it. If I had known he was planning on using it against me all along - or using it against you guys… hell, if I’d known about the henchmen… I swear I wouldn’t have gone after it-”

“Yeah,” Jigen interrupts, “You would’ve.”

Lupin purses his lips, acknowledging that maybe being more than careless was a bad habit of his.

“The curiosity would have driven you insane,” the gunman continues, “You should’ve just… told us all along.”

Lupin freed Jigen from his selfish grasp and took a serious look at him.

“When you’re right, you’re right,” Lupin tried to smile, “There’s a million times now where I could’ve been better prepared if I’d just… been honest.”

“I bet you put a tracker on Fujiko’s shoe at the apartment, didn’t you?”

Again, a small smile.

“I thought it was strange how you’d somehow managed to place one on it after they’d been stolen,” Jigen continued.

“If Fujiko knew that I was already expecting the heels to be stolen and I didn’t actually have any plan on catching those guys she would’ve turned me into a rug.”

“How did you trick Goemon?”

“He saw me throw *a* tracker, not the one that was already on them,” Lupin shrugged, “I guess he… trusted me enough. Though, I think he had his suspicions too.”

“You have a lot of apologizing to do, y’know that?” Jigen asked, walking around Lupin to the box his Magnum had been stored in.

Lupin nodded.

“Right now, we’ve got a few other things to take care of.”

With a quick look, their eyes met, and that similar spark of delinquency was in the air. It’d take a while to get back into their usual rhythm, but this, in it’s own way, was a new start too. Together, they ran into the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said it was chapter 15 onwards that was me writing it in 2021 instead of 2018 but actually it was halfway through this one


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Watching the security cameras had been uneventful, and more than once Zenigata wondered if he wasn’t being tricked. He had definitely witnessed Lupin enter that hidden passageway - so something surely wasn’t right here. Not to mention the attitude of the director… But still, how long had it been now that he saw neither hide nor hair of that thief…

Clang

The noise made the inspector jump in his seat, and he barely had a moment to look over before he saw the familiar samurai crawling from the vent by which he’d cut so perfectly open.

“Inspector,” Goemon acknowledges him, “Lupin tells me its time for phase two.”

“R-Right…”

Phase two was only slightly more effort than phase one - after all, Lupin couldn’t ask the man to break the law. He could only ask Zeni to play along in the efforts to catch a far more sinister criminal at hand. However, Goemon wasn’t in the loop, and awaited his own instructions for whatever phase two was.

“Tell me, Goemon…” the inspector starts quietly instead, “Is there really an armada of amnesiacs here?”

It felt so stupid to ask. He could feel the wool being pulled over his eyes - and how foolish he’d look to his boss when he tries to explain how he helped Lupin and his gang commit a crime… but surely Lupin would never be so low as to lie about such a terrible memory… about trying to save his friends… right?

“Yes,” the samurai answers with a deadly serious tone, “Dozens of them. They tried to make us into one of their kind as well… but Lupin returned.”

He looked toward the security camera.

“Just like he said he would...”

Zenigata blinked, seeing no hint of a lie across the younger man’s face. It was strange, how contradicting the younger man was. His face simultaneously gave one all they needed to know… all while hiding so much away. Either way, Zenigata knew for sure now that there was no time to waste.

“Tell me, Zenigata,” he says the name with a lack of familiarity, “Do you have someone important? Someone you never want to forget?”  
Zenigata retrieves the disc Lupin had given him, and looked about for a place to insert it.

“Of course I do, doesn’t everyone?”

“Yes… well... “ he continues, “Lupin has made me realize the importance of these people… And how close I was to that person being gone from my memory forever. I know it wasn’t your own act, but…”

He straightens his back.

“I want to thank you.”

“Thank me?” Zenigata repeats as he finds the drive for the disc, and the computer takes it without problem, “For what?”

“... In a way, it seems like you’ve inadvertently thrown yourself in the way of danger. Of all the memories that blade could’ve taken that night… of all the important people in my life… It was your memory which stood in their way.”

Zenigata settled back in the office chair and let his eyes fall on the samurai again. He hadn’t anticipated Goemon to be the poetic type…

“It’s a debt I cannot repay you,” Goemon insists, “But know that this scar will be a reminder of what you’ve done for me.”

The older man can only give a sort of smirk, impressed at this side of Goemon he had never seen before. He hadn’t done anything, literally speaking, but he supposed that to a young man who had something stolen from his mind - by a thief opposing all definitions of gentlemanly… this was the samurai’s own way of processing it all. A debt he could never repay… Well, that was just fine.

“It’s an honour.”

The screens of the monitors turn an abrupt red, interrupting their conversation, and the inspector is quick to his feet.

“What the hell-!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why am I only noticing now that this chapter is like two sentences


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Jigen and Lupin were quick to look for any sign of danger now. They couldn’t risk a single swipe from one of their specialty weapons. However… their path was strangely clear. They figured the emerald room would be heavily guarded, borderline untouchable, but it appeared as though all roads lead to Rome around here. They were facing the large door that no doubt held the serum - or at least, that’s what the door said - and walking slowly in. It seemed there were a few different machines at work - each of them containing rubies of various sizes and shapes, all funneling to the main vessel which sat in the centre of the room…. The emerald. It all seemed so ornamental, to have the precious extract from a ruby stored in the largest emerald in the world, but Lupin didn’t care about the director’s cults and traditions. Whatever it’s significance was, it didn’t matter.

“Lupin,” Jigen whispers, “When we take this… and take care of these assholes… You’ve got to get rid of it.”

The thief turned his head with remarkable speed to eye his partner, as if he had something smart or quick to say about that. Of course, he faltered.

“What do you mean?”

“Lupin, you can’t keep this for yourself or the cycle is never gonna end,” he explains, “You’ll kill yourself trying to figure out how it works and there’s gonna be people like the director around every corner trying to take it from you. I mean… you can’t let this go on.”

“I’d only be keeping it long enough to-”

“You won’t be keeping it at all, thief,” a voice comes from the door.

The director.

How did he get past Zenigata and Goemon!? No sooner had Lupin thought the question did the inspector himself round the corner… a large slash across the chest of his shirt and jacket. The director held a ruby dagger in his hand, admiring it and almost looking pleased with himself.

“Now, officer, these are the thieves I was telling you about,” the director gestured, “If you would kindly apprehend them for me?”

The inspector didn’t say a word as he was directed around by the older man, and Lupin could feel himself choke on such a dirty trick. Of course the director wasn’t going to risk sending his own men after Lupin - his gang had already disposed of two of his members… if he sends his own friends, Lupin won’t risk hurting them. Not for treasure. Not for anything.

And now before them stood Zenigata, who had a blank look on his face and not the usual glee he’d get from arresting Lupin. Thinking about it now, he probably didn’t recognize Lupin at all. That gash across his chest was larger than the one on Goemon’s face, and likely erased far more than one or two unimportant memories.

“Pops… come on…” Jigen mumbles. He isn’t sure what he’s hoping for, it wasn’t like the inspector was on their side anyway, but if he arrested them now he’d be making the biggest mistake of his life. There was nowhere to flee, nowhere to hide… and Zenigata was already reaching for his handcuffs.

Once he faced Lupin, he began to speak.

“You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions… Anything you say may be used against you in the court of law…”

Lupin read the man’s face, as if pleading for a memory to resurface, a hundred years of failure to bubble up right now to just make him remember.

Remember, Zenigata… Come on…

“Do you understand?” Zenigata finishes his speech, and it’s in that moment Lupin sees a flash of something, and a beautiful wink grace the man’s face.

The inspector turns in a flurry of his trench coat, throwing his cuffs at the director which latch perfectly against his wrists - the aim of a detective who’d done this a million times before.

“Pops!” both Lupin and Jigen exclaim with excitement as the director stammers and falters against his cuffed hands.

“H-How-!? You wretched-!”

Zenigata tugs at his stained shirt and reveals the vest beneath his regular clothes which took the brunt of the damage from the ruby blade which now dropped to the floor with a clang.

“I knew you’d be taking me to Lupin,” he spoke matter-of-factly, adjusting his jacket, “It’s just unfortunate for you that he wasn’t my target this time.”

Goemon enters next with Fujiko in tow, weapons unsheathed, though both are quick to smirk at the director’s pathetic protests as Zenigata kicks the blade away and apprehends the man.

After the security room screens turned red, an alarm sounded upstairs - it seemed the computer had detected the disc which was meant to disable the alarm altogether. Zenigata ordered Goemon to escape which of course, the samurai refused - but at the order to warn Lupin… chose to listen. It was then that Zenigata was confronted by the director, who promptly attacked.

On Goemon’s end, he had retreated back into the vent, looking about for where the thief and gunman had gone. However, in his searching, he spotted Fujiko doing the exact same thing. R-088 was already safe, and Fujiko had instructed her to contact the authorities - to let them know Lupin was at the treasury, and nothing more. Fujiko wasn’t about to stand by knowing the others were still in the belly of the beast - and they all needed to get the hell out of there before Interpol arrived. Having reconvened, and having the director apprehended, meant nothing stood in their way now.

“Y-You can’t do this! You have no idea what you’re interfering with!” the director continues to protest.

“Lupin,” Fujiko interrupts, ignoring the director completely, “Interpol is going to be here soon, we have to leave.”

“Right, I’ll grab the emerald and-”

“Oh no you won’t!” Zenigata warned, “I said I’d help in order to arrest the director of the treasury. I won’t stand by and let you steal something this dangerous.”

“He’s right… for once,” Goemon agreed quietly, “Lupin, allow me to destroy these machines. That way it’ll be done for good.”

“But… But…” Lupin stammers. He scans the room, watching his friends who just went through one of the longest days in their life. Who, despite everything he’d put them through… were still here. He was so close to that thing that would finally let him forget about the past... 

But that didn’t matter. It didn’t matter like the present mattered.

It takes him a moment before he finally nods and Goemon draws his blade.

“You should all leave now, by the time I’ve completed this machine’s destruction it will be dangerous to stay much longer,” he says as Zantetsuken is wielded in both hands and he is readying his stance. Zenigata nods and removes himself from the room. Destroying it was a sort of crime, but not as much as the crime of letting it continue to exist caused.

Lupin takes one last look at the emerald which housed the precious ruby memory serum… and ducked away along with Jigen and Fujiko. Soon it’d be gone, and quite frankly, that’s all Lupin could ask for now.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Of course there was one promise Lupin could fill - which he knew as they all followed behind Zenigata toward the exit - the machines left in a fiery disaster. He could never turn himself in. When they finally felt the crisp air of the night hit them, and a million flashing lights from police cars surrounded their vision, they were all quick to leave interpol - including Zenigata - behind. The inspector barely had time to speak before the spotlight attempted to follow Lupin’s gang before failing them altogether by the time they’d crammed themselves into the Fiat and sped off in a cloud of dust. It was lucky for them that there was a much bigger crime going on - after all, they hadn’t taken anything at all. They’d helped end something much bigger.

On the television the following morning, there wasn’t a news station that wasn’t covering what had happened. Over thirty missing people were found in one day, all looking for their families, all waiting to recover from months and years of working for a man that found them disposable. They interviewed a few one them, but only one that Lupin recognized. Her name was no longer R-088 but Shanae Roy and Lupin couldn’t be happier to see a smile on her face. Her family had arrived as soon as possible once they’d heard she’d been found.

“There’s a lot to catch up on, no doubt,” the interviewer asks her, “Is it a daunting task to try and remember it all?”

Shanae had an arm around her mother as she spoke and thought for a moment before responding.

“It’ll be a long time til I find myself again,” she began, “But I want to know everything. Good or bad. I want to know the ‘me’ that I was before all this. If I can’t be her again then knowing her is all I can do.”

“Knowing her?” the interviewer repeats.

“I’d give anything to have the lessons I learned in my past again. I’d like to think I lived them once so I would have those lessons with me forever. Now, I must view my past as a teacher - and try to learn again. I’ll know my past like the back of my hand soon enough… but all I’ll do is know it. My memories are gone. All I can do now is make new ones.”

Lupin shut the television off before he could finish the full report. The director had been arrested, the serum and all it’s machines had been destroyed, and now… It was over.

Jigen walked in, straightening his tie and eyeing Lupin’s sad demeanor with a worried look.

“You still upset about losing the emerald?”

“Yeah…” Lupin nods, “Only now I’m bitter that Pops gets all the credit for saving everybody.”

“I mean… he did save our asses,” Jigen points out, “He deserves a moment in the limelight.”

Lupin nods again. The place had been quiet that morning - Fujiko never stayed long, always loving the privacy of her own home better, and Goemon was eager to meet with Murasaki after everything that had happened. It left Lupin and Jigen… and that was fine, wasn’t it?

He’d been thinking about Jigen’s memory, the one he had to go into to awake him from the machine… how such a simple thing seemed to make him so happy. Just sitting in the rain. He wasn’t admiring any sleek treasure, or with any past significant other…

It was just them.

“Hey Jigen,” Lupin mustered the words finally, “Wanna go for a walk?”

Jigen took a moment to savour that question before smiling.

“I’m not a damn dog, Lupin,” he replied, reaching for his coat, “But it ain’t like I’m doing anything else, am I?”

With that the pair walked out on the streets of Vienna in disguises, feeling a distinctly new energy to the air. A new honesty, a new trust, and though it was the same sun as always, the whole sky seemed new too. Thin lines of smoke marked their path on the sidewalk, each of them with a cigarette hanging between rough lips. There was something Lupin wanted to say, that he knew he had to say since yesterday. Since the very beginning actually.

“I’m sorry. Dragging you guys into that was the worst thing a friend could do,” he rambled, “And selfish too.”

“And?”

Lupin blinked.

“And… I won’t do it again?”

It was the usual thing you’d say as a kid when an apology wasn’t good enough. Not that he didn’t think Jigen and the rest didn’t deserve enough apologies to last a lifetime now.

“What’ll you do instead then?” Jigen asked, “When you have something weighing on your mind that you don’t want to think about anymore?”

Lupin blinked again, but this time his look of confusion blossomed into a smile.

“How about... a walk?” Lupin suggested, “With a good friend of mine?”

Jigen smiled back in turn.

“Sounds like a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .... aaaaand that's it. not sure how i feel about this one! i'm glad it isn't hanging out in the back of my head anymore, but I do wonder if this is originally how I planned on finishing it. Honestly when I posted my first fic on here I didn't think it would grab so many peoples interests. I don't think this one quite meets the same standards I had with the last one, and I can only hope somebody out here will enjoy it and can maybe parse out what I was trying to get across here. Lord knows I can't haha


End file.
